Everyone Makes Mistakes
by Scraps the Fool
Summary: What happens when a simple date takes a unexpected turn and what happens when a certain someone finds out. Prepare yourself for a tale about conspiracy, passion, and a murder most foul.
1. The Date

Original Story by: Scraps

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 1: Date with an Half-Gem

[*]

"Is she here yet? I need everything to be absolutely perfect!"

A young boy with a rose quartz stick in his belly was pacing around the kitchen room in a nice tux. This boy's name was Steven and he was part of a group of worldly protector known as the Crystal Gems. His job is to protect his town and the rest of the world from deadly crystal creatures. However, he does not fight alone, for he has three other Gems to help him. They are Garnet, the most calm and sophisticated of the 3, Amethyst, the most wild and carefree, and Pearl, who is the most cautious and at times, a complete perfectionist. All four of them have faced deadly challenges in the past but now, Steven will face one of the most difficult challenges of his life: His upcoming anniversary of his relationship with the young bookworm named Connie. All the other gems were helping Steven get ready for this date and no one, not even Amethyst, wanted anything to ruin this special moment for him.

"Steven, you are going to be okay," Pearl said as she tried to calm Steven down. "I understand how nervous you are and I know you will do just fine.

Steven looked up at the tall, pointy-nosed woman before him. Of all of the three gems, Pearl was the one who he had the biggest bond to. Ever since he was a baby and his mother sacrificed herself to create him, she did a spot on job of taking the role as mother.

"But what if I say something that hurts her feelings, or what if I send a wrong message or-!"

Before he could continue rambling, he was interrupted by the sound of a door knocking and then opening.

"YO STEVEN!" a voice shouted from the hallway, this was the voice of Amethyst. "YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS HERE! SHOULD I GET THE RUBBERS NOW OR PUT THEM AWAY FOR LATER?"

Steven and Pearl quickly dashed into the room to try to stop Amethyst, who was now being carried away from Connie by a larger woman with large reflective glasses and a large afro. This was Garnet, and although she does not talk much, her actions speak louder than her words.

"Forgive the misunderstanding Seven," Garnet said in her soothing calm voice, "will you need any rubber flotation devices in case you wish to go to the beach for a dip?"

Pearl sighed in relief; leave it to Garnet to solve a problem created by Amethyst.

As Steven turned his attention to Connie, his heart just stopped. Connie was beautiful; she was wearing a lovely cream dress, which brought out her glowing features. She was even wearing the glowing bracelet from when they first met. Even though she was not a gem, this was the closest thing to one in Steven's eyes.

"Hi Steven," the young girl said nervously, her shyness and constant blushing made her look even cuter. "Are you ready to go?"

Steven was still transfixed by Connie's divinity, but quickly snapped out of the hypnosis. "Let me answer that question with another question." He stated in his coolest voice he could muster. "Are you ready to have the bestest date of your life?" and with that, the two lovebirds were quickly out the door.

As soon as the door shut, Pearl stared daggers an Amethyst who finally burst into laughter.

"bestest date of your life?" Amethyst chortled, "that was perhaps one of the du-!" Amethyst quickly ducked a spear attack that was launched by Pearl, another, and another followed this, and another, until Amethyst looked like a cartoon cat pinned to the wall with daggers. Pearl followed this by storming up to the gem until Amethyst could see right into Pearls blues eyes, which to the purple gems perspective, had a faint red taint in them.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Pearl hissed at her portly sister, whose humor had completely vanished under Pearl's enraged behavior. "THIS EVENT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO STEVEN!" Pearl then placed her hand on Amethyst's gem as if she was ready to break it. Amethyst then saw a black burning tear roll down Pearl's cheek, leaving behind a small scar. "IF YOU HAD RUINED IT, I…i…" Pearl suddenly released her grip on Amethyst and dispersed all of her spears before retreating to her room, Garnet, who had been shocked by what she, had seen; spoke in what seemed like an eternity.

"It's seems to be getting worse; we must try and find a way to fix this before it's too late."

Amethyst got off the floor and rubbed her neck. "You think so? The last thing I want to deal with right now more than an angry Pearl is an angry Pearl who can create earthquakes or raise an army of giant bugs."

Garnet nodded then pulled out a scroll and made several sure with her hand. As she did so, the scroll lit up and a portal appeared. She then wrote a note and left it on the counter. Garnet stepped into the portal and Amethyst followed right after, unaware that as they left the room through the portal, a hand abducted Garnet's letter.

[*]

Steven and Connie's date was perfect. It started with a Dinner and a Movie at the City Walk Fries shop, followed by a trip through the arcade and finally, a nice romantic walk on the beachside. To Steven, it seemed amateur but to Connie, it was perhaps the best day of her life.

"Thank you Steven for this wonderful night", Connie said with tears in her eyes. "I had never had such a nice night before in my life and I am glad that I can share it with my boyfriend." Steven sighed in relief, "I am happy that you are happy," Steven cheered with stars in his eyes. "I just wonder what will be the whipped cream on this together breakfast."

As the young boy was pondering the perfect plan of positivity, he was unaware that the young girl, who he had been dating for a while now, was carefully undressing behind him.

"I think a nice dip in the ocean would be perfect, only we don't have any swimsuits." As he turned around to face the now naked Connie, His jaw dropped to the ground and his brain froze in place. For a shy bookworm, this girl had no problem undressing in front of the boy she loved.

As she walked into the warm water, she gestured Seven to follow her. Steven then proceeded removes all of his clothes as if they came to life and charged into the water. As he started to swim around, he felt Connie press into his back and kiss his neck. This caused Seven to shutter as he turned to face his girlfriend with a mind full of confusion and affection. After a few seconds of looking at each other's unclothed form, hey both embraced in a long romantic kiss, following this, Seven's gem instantly activates and create a bubble around them and began to sink, just like when they first met. However, the two did not seem to mind the situation, after all, they would need it for a while.


	2. The Experience

Original Story by: Scraps

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 2: The Frightening Experience with the Dream at 11:06 PM

[*]

_**The Earth Crystal Temple, Five Months Later**_  
Five months had passed since the big date Steven had with Connie. He was concerned that it had something to do with the "experience" he had on the bottom of the sea. Although he had seen Connie now and again, she seemed different from before. She was wearing more concealing clothing and she seemed more distant than before. Her strange behavior was making Steven very upset. He wanted to tell someone, but Garnet and Amethyst had apparently left to do something important, despite the fact that he could not find a note on where they were or what they were doing. At least Pearl was there to help he young gem in his time of depression. However, what Steven did not realize was that Pearl was changing. Her gem seemed to be dimmer and slightly cracked; her hair had dark grey strands in it, her blue eyes now had a small blend of black in them, like a shadow in a clear blue pond, and she looked thinner than usual. One night, after a failed attempted to talk to Connie involving a small confronting with Connie's father, Steven was on his bed sulking when Peal came by to comfort him.

"Hey Pearl…" Steven groaned before slamming his face into his pillow.

"Steven," said Pearl, who pulled Seven up from the bed and placed his head into her lap. "Are you still upset about that date with Connie?"

"I just don't know what I did wrong!" Steven said with tears in his eyes, "I wanted this date to be perfect but now I feel like a screw-up. What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? Something I did. I feel like such a failure."

The long nosed gem looked down at the crying boy in her lap, then she at him up and hugged him tight, pressing his head against her chest and rocking him slowly. Don't worry Steven;" she said to him in a soothing voice, "Everyone makes mistakes now and then, what matters are that you learn from them."

Steven looked up at Pearl, the lights of hope returning to his eyes. "What about the bigger mistakes like the Sea Spire, the mistake that cannot be fixed?" He was expecting a lecture of exceptions and experience but instead he felt Pearl's hands on his face on is as she kissed him on the forehead. This was followed by a simple response from Pearl that gave Steven a strange feeling of reissuance and discomfort:

"I will always forgive you."

Steven quickly slumped back into his bed as Pearl tucked him in, gave him her special sleeping mask, and gave him a kiss good night. Steven was happy to know that he still had a chance of making amends with Connie.

Hours later, As Steven drifted on to sleep. As he fell asleep, he began to dream. He saw himself on the beachside where he had his date with Connie. He could feel the cold air on his face and could feel the sand between his toes. As he looked down, he realized he was naked and tried to find something to cover himself. However, there was nothing around him but sand and seawater. Looking up toward the ocean, he saw a figure standing there; she looked like a young girl with long brown hair and glasses. It was Connie and as she turned toward Steven, she smiled and extended her hand to him.

"Come on Steven," she said in a calm, cheerful voice, "the water is fine!"

Steven laughed as he began to run towards his girlfriend, hoping to make up for the lost time between them. However, something was not right, the sand surrounding Connie began to shift and rise up, turning into large pitch-black hands that began to grab and drag Connie into the abyss below. Connie cried as she reached out to Steven, but the more Steven ran, the farther he was getting. As Connie sunk completely into the sands below, Steven finally reached the location and tried to dig Connie out of the sand, as he dug and dug, voices begun to yell "_DELIQUIUM_" and "_COMMASCULO_" at him repeatedly. Steven, exhausted from digging, looked at his hands as he began to cry from losing his love once again. Just then, Steven heard a roar as he turned around to see a large pitch-black titan looming right over him. Steven watched in horror as the giant raised its arms and brought them down upon Steven. Just as the monster closed its jaws around Steven, he heard a voice say something to him.

"_Ego voluntatem semperque ignosce vos!_"

Steven quickly jolted up shocked and gasping before collecting himself and looking around his room.

He looked at is clock, 3:27 AM flashed from the digital timekeeper.

He looked down from his bed to the living room, noting irregular to see, and it was too dark to see.

He looked at his sliding door, closed up tight and locked.

Steven was confused, "What just happened?" he thought to himself as he pulled his sheets over himself. As he sat in is bed and looked at the ceiling, a thought crossed his mind:

"Could that have been about the date with Connie? And could that have been why she was so distant?"

Steven kept thinking about Connie and what just happened to him until he finally fell back to sleep. As he drifted off to a more joyful dream of flying around the galaxy with cookie cat, he did not notice the several small black pebbles on the floor around him that blended with the shadows.

[*]

"How much further Garnet? We have been walking for hours!"

" It's not too far now Amethyst, We are almost there."

" That is what you said eight hours ago! I am starving!"

The small squabble going on right now is between the two Crystal Gems, Garnet, and Amethyst. After Pearl attacked Amethyst for a simple joke, Garnet decided to go on a special mission for Pearl's sake. Along with Amethyst, the two are on a quest to the Crystal Empire, were the Crystal Guardians founded a group ta would bring peace to the Universe. What neither Garnet nor Amethyst realized, was that time worked differently in this world. What seemed like hours to the duo were actually months in Earth time. As Garnet climbed over the mountain, she stopped Amethyst with her hand. The two gems looked with awe at the huge crystal building that glistened in the sunlight. It was in this building, that Garnet and Amethyst would find what they were looking for.

"Whew! Is that what we are looking for?" Amethyst said while catching her breath.

"Yes." Garnet replied in a soothing but monotone voice. "That is the Temple of the Crystal Guardians. Now let us continue, we are running out of time."

Steven woke up to the sound of a hand knocking at the door. At that moment, Steven realized that it could be Connie at the door and quickly rushed into proper cloths. After a few minutes of stumbling around in an attempt to eat a frozen breakfast burrito and spraying his hair with INSTA-WASH hair spray. All while turning his shirt around, from putting it on backwards, he thought of what to say when he encountered her, should he bring up the night they had together and what had happened, and should he ask her about her whereabouts last night. However, his main priority right now was to say hello to his long departed girlfriend.

When he opened the door to see whom it was, he was filled with joy to see it was Connie. She was still as pretty as ever, aside from the fact that she was wearing a absurdly large coat in the middle of summer.

"Hi Steven…" Connie said meekly, her words stumbled a little as if she was worried about something. "I need to talk to you ab-"

Before she could say anything else, Steven extended his hand to hold on a second as he directed his voice upward to the top of the Temple. There was Pearl, who now was air drying yesterday's laundry.

"HEEEEYYYY PEEEAAARRRLLL?" Steven yelled.

"Yes Steven?" Pearl shouted back.

"Connie is here and she wants to hang out with me, is that okay with you?" Steven replied loudly

Pearl looked down at the two figures below her, and then she turned back to the laundry. "Of course Steven" Pearl answered, "just be home in time for dinner."

"THANK YOU!" Steven hollered out as he grabbed Connie's hand and they both ran to the beachside. Pearl smiled as she watched them from the temple top. Her expression soon changed to a frown when she noticed her reflection in the bucket next to her.

[*]

As the two young lovers walked the beach side hand in hand, Steven was ready to tell Connie his feelings.

"Connie?" Steven said with a serious but innocent voice, "I'm sorry if that date we had went bad or anything. I just wanted you to have a good time."

Connie was silent for a minute, as if she was trying to find the right words to tell him something. Instead just kissed Steven on the lips, Steven was surprised, not only did this mean that Connie was not mad at him, but happy, Steven thought a sigh of relief as Connie released him from her grasp.

"I was never mad at you Steven," Connie said as she backed away from Steven, "But after that night, I discovered that I had made a huge mistake and I was afraid of how would you react." Connie then turned away from Steven as she began to remove her large coat and dropped it on the sandy beach around her. "The reason I avoided you for the last few months was because of this mistake, my parents have understood what had happened and they will support all three of us but I don't know what your friends will react to this."

Steven was about to say the old Universe motto, but then his mind had processed what Connie just said and one word stuck out. "Three?" Steven said anxiously, beginning to realize what the mistake was. "Connie? What are you trying to say?"

Connie then turned around to face Steven. Her hands were placed on her round belly; he looked at a confused Steven with large stars in her eyes as she was prepared to face perhaps the biggest moment of her young life and Steven's.

"Um…Steven…? I'm…."


	3. The Letter

Original Idea by: Scraps

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 3: Letter from Two Gems

[*]  


Greg Universe was a man who always looked at the brighter side of life. His motto for life was "if every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs." Despite the fact that he was a failed singer turned wash car owner and the fact that his wife died shortly after Steven was born, he always had a positive outlook with things. However, a sudden arrival of Connie's parents, and the news they had for the aging optimist, would put all of his values and outlooks to the test.

"Pregnant. Connie is pregnant?' the man sighed as he sat down on a turned over bucket. "I can't believe this is actually happening." He then turned to Steven, who was sitting next to him and looking at him with a look of fear and desperation. This reminded Greg of when Steven told him about "birthday incident" he experienced a long time ago. Only this time, there was no magic or power to reverse what had been done.

"Dad" Steven said softly as he hugged his dad tightly. "I am so sorry, I didn't know this happened and I don't know what to do. I feel so scared."

Greg took a deep breath and smiled as he hugged Steven back. "It's going to be okay Steven, if every por-"

"Greg!" a voice startled both Steven and Greg; it was the voice belonging to one of two adults. Their names were Doug and Priyanka Maheswaran and they were known to Steven as the parents of Connie. "Our child is pregnant, and you are bruising it off like it means nothing? Do you know how important this is?"

Greg let go of Steven and stood up in front of Doug, although Doug was known as a security guard, Greg was not afraid of him. He knew him as a strict father who seemed to care more for his image than his family.

"Yes I do Doug, you seem to forget that Steven is my kid, and the last thing I want to do right now is to make him feel worst. By the way, where is Connie? Last time I checked, she had a part in this too?"

Doug chuckled. "Connie is at school right now. Unlike some people, she still has a life ahead of her and being knocked up by a low-income slacker is not going to change that."  
Greg grew red in the face and added a poke of his finger to his argument with the prick in blue. "Of course she will have a life; it's the life in her belly. Do not forget that she did not even tell Steven until just recently. Why did it have to be now? Why not sooner? Probably because YOU were more concerned about how a teen mom for a daughter would look on your resume."

Doug grew red in the face too, stepping up into Greg's face and added a light shove of his hand to the augment with the fat idiot in sweatpants. "I was concerned that the child was not a freak like YOUR son. Last time I checked, Steven was not the child of three lesbian freaks. He was the offspring of you and your dead wif-"

Doug was cut off by a large fist making direct contact with his face, dropping him flat on his back with a angry Greg towering over him. Priyanka tried to help Doug up, only to have him shake her off before wiping his bloody nose with his hand.

"Assaulting an officer is a serious felony". Doug hissed as he whipped out a retractable baton. "I will see to it that you are locked up for this."

Greg face did not change as he brought his fists up. "That wouldn't scare me even if you were an actual officer."

"STOP IT!" Steven yelled as he stood between the enraged fathers, halting their charge, and looking at the young gem between them. "I want you two to stop fighting and listen to me, how is this going to help me or Connie? What you guys are doing is going to tear both our families apart."

As the two dads looked at each other in disbelief, Steven went up to his dad and pulled his fists down. "Dad," Steven said to him in a more confident voice, "I know that you are worried about losing me like mom, but I know that you need to let go of the past and help me and Mr. Maheswaran."

Steven then went up to Doug and pushed his baton away. "And Mr. Maheswaran, I know what I did was wrong to you and I know you must hate me and my dad right now, but you need to help us get through this. You need to stop thinking with your badge and start thinking with your heart. I love Connie and I will help her through everything. But in order to do that, I need to know if you love her too."

Doug just stood there in silence for a few minutes then he looked at his wife and then at his now trembling hands, within a few seconds, to the surprise of the young gem, the prideful security guard fell to his knees and grabbed Steven into a sobbing, bone-crushing, hug.

"I AM SO SOOORRRRYYY!" Doug bawled as he constricted Steven, "I NEVER MENT TO BE SUCH A PRICK! I LOVE MY DAUGHTER AND ALL I WANT HER TO HAVE A HAPPY LIFE!"

Steven released himself from the death hug as Priyanka walked over to console her weeping husband.

"We will help support you Steven and our daughter." Priyanka said to Steven as Doug looked to Steven and Greg before bear hugging the portly man. "The only thing I am concerned with is what will happen in the future? The child will need a family who can fully support a baby, and if anything happened to you well…"

Just then, there was a knock at the door, when Greg went to open it up, there was a tall man in a purple shirt with yellow circles.

"Harold?" Greg asked in confusion, "What are you doing here? Now is not the time to ask for a ride wash."

"Hey Greg." The man asked humbly, "Is Steven home?"

Steven walked up to the door so he could see who the man was. It was Mr. Smiley, the operator of fun land. He was known by Steven as a person who was constantly annoyed by Steven's unintentional destruction of his products. Which resulted in the banishment of the young gem from fun land and making him pay off the damage he did to the arcade? However, on this day, the man stood in front of the car wash door, with a hat between his hands and a look of hope in his eyes.

"Mr. Smiley?" Steven asked, hoping that this had nothing to do with more property damage.

"Hey Steven." Mr. Smiley said as he walked into the door, "I am sorry if I'm intruding, but I heard about your predicament, and I think I can help you out."

Greg and Doug looked at each other as they looked back with suspicion. "What do you mean by that Harold?" Greg asked with caution, "Are you referring to help similar to the "Mustachio incident"?"

Mr. Smiley turned to Greg and put his hands up in defense. "Oh no no no no! It's nothing like that. I just think I can help us all out with this problem."

" Okay." Doug said with a tone of suspicion, unaware of the man's motives. "What is this "plan" of yours?"

Mr. Smiley then sat down on a plastic crate before directing his attention to the Universes and the Maheswaran's. "You see, the misses and I have tried to have a child for a while now, but I can't have children because I'm sterile. In addition, we cannot adopt because of the lack of orphanages in beach city. The only option we had was to adopt a surrogate child from another parent who was giving them up. After I heard about your Predicament, I was wondering if perhaps…I can adopt Steven's child."

There was a long silence, it seemed like hours were passing by in the silence of the moment. The silence was finally broken by the sound of Steven walking over to Mr. Smiley and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Mr. Smiley," Steven said to the man who looked at him with tearful eyes, "I have known you for a long time, and I know we have had our problems in the past; but I do know that you are great with kids at your arcade and at fun land. I know that you would be great if you had any. I also agree with Mr. Maheswaran in wanting Connie to have a good life. So to ensure that I, Connie, and our child live a great life, I will allow you to adopt our son."

This resulted in a strange combination of laughing and crying as Mr. Smiley hugged Steven and proceeded to double-hug Greg and Doug, who awkwardly patted the crying man on the back.

"Thank you all so much!" Mr. Smiley said with tears flowing down his face, "I promise that your kid will be raised like one of our own and that you Steven, can use the fun-land rides and Arcade for the rest of your life free of charge."

"That's okay Mr. Smiley, you don't need to do that." Steven said while trying to sound more mature and humble, "but how about instead I help around your arcade? So I can pay for the bills when the baby is born?"

"Deal!" Mr. Smiley said as the boy and the man shook hands, "and please, call me Harold, you earned it. Now let's go get that paperwork finished."

As the two ran to the large truck, the three parents tailed behind, Greg and Doug both apologized for fighting with each other as Priyanka talked on her cell phone.

"I just got off the phone with Connie," Priyanka said as they reached the truck, "she agrees with the adoption and is going to tell Pearl the good news after she is done with school, now come on everyone, this is going to be a long drive to Shellpoint.

Steven was too busy helping Mr. Smiley figure out a name for the child to realize that he never told Pearl about the baby. As the truck drove off, a small pale mint colored moth buzzed out the window and up to the Temple, leaving a small trail of black specks in its wake.

[*]

"Hello Pearl?" Connie shouted as she opened the door to the gem residence, a few hours ago Connie had accepted the idea of letting Mr. Smiley adopt her and Steven's child. Once she was finished with school, she would go to the temple to inform the gems about the situation while Steven, Greg, Mr. Smiley, and her parents would go to the adoption clinic in Shellpoint city, which would be quite a long drive, to finalize the adoption. She would then take a bus to a special clinic across town so she could receive preparation for childbirth. First, Pearl needed to be informed.

"Pearl, are you home?"  
As she walked into the house, she took of her hand and boots and placed them on the rack, and then placed her books on a nightstand. She remembered that Steven had given her permission to enter the gem abode if she needed to, and right now, she needed to.

"Peeaarrrlll?" Connie shouted as she looked around the kitchen and then the dining room, she then checked the top of the temple and then back down to Steven's room. She was confused, as she just saw Pearl through the window was she approached the temple.

"Maybe she is on one of her missions," Connie said to herself before noticing the Gem door. As she approached it, Connie felt a vibration from her belly, as the colored lights on the door began to glow. Connie looked at the door in awe before pressing one of the gems that caused the door to open. Connie could not see anything past the door, only an eerie black and a cold chill that was in the air.

"Hey Pearl, its Connie," Connie said as she crept into to the dark room, "Listen, I don't know if you found out but Steven and I-" Connie stopped in her tracks as she felt paper on her foot. As she squatted down to pick it, she saw it was a note that had the words "For Steven" Written on it. Considering it a letter regarding Pearl's absence, she then opened it up and proceeded to read the letter:

Dear Steven,  
If you are reading this then Amethyst and I are already on a special mission to the Crystal Empire. I do not know how this has happened and I do not know if you will understand, but I think it is for your own safety if you know the truth. Pearl is suffering from The Obsidian Virus, a Gem pathogen that is responsible for the near-extinction of the gems who were not cured. Although Pearl has been able to keep control of it for years, now I fear the virus is starting to control her. This infection will cause Pearl to undergo a state of unpredictable psychosis. Because you are half-human, you are immune from the virus, but as long as Pearl is infected, you are in grave danger. Until Amethyst and I return with the cure, stay away from Pearl and do not interact with her as much as possible. If you see a black fluid discharge from Pearl, you must keep as far away from her as you can, I know that you care for Pearl, but no matter what she says, you have to stay as far away from her as you can. Be strong Steven, I can only hope that you can find this letter before we are too late.  
Love,  
Garnet

As soon as Connie finished the letter, she realized that Steven was in grave danger and she had to warn him. Just then, she was startled by a large metallic scraping noise, followed by a faint humming. Her heart began to race in her chest as the humming and scraping got closer and louder as she raced to the door. As she was about to reach the exit, she felt a hand grab her shoulder and turn her around to face her. There standing before her was Pearl, with a warm smile on her face. Connie saw that Pearl's eyes were a mix of black and blue and her cheeks had scars as if she was crying hot acid. Her Gem was now opaque and it had three large black cracks in it. Connie also noticed that the hand on her shoulder was bleeding and the blood was black and burning. As Pearl looked toward the young pregnant girl before her, Pearl looked down at her stomach and back into her terrified eyes.

"Hello Connie," Pearl hissed in a voice that shot fear into Connie's mind, "I see you are eating for two now?"

Before Connie could respond, the Gem quickly bludgeoned her across the head with the end of her spear. As Connie started to pass out on the floor, she could feel a warm trickle of blood on her head and see as Pearl bent down to look at Connie's eyes with a grin as the poor girl before her fell unconscious.


	4. The Obsidian

Original Story by: Scraps  
Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar  
Chapter 4: Obsidian Margaritum

_**The Earth Crystal Temple, Two Years Ago**_

Today was a special day for the Gems and for Steven as well, because it was on this day the Gems celebrated the day of conception. This was the day when the Great Mother Gem created the Universe and sealed away the Obsidian Leviathan. It was also on this day that the Crystal Tribunal was formed, and with them, the beginning of the Crystal Guardians (the original name of the Crystal Gems). Of course, each of the Gems, save for Steven, took the ordeal of the ceremony to be important to the Gem heritage, and of all the Gems, it is Pearl who is the most excited. Of course, she was able to vent out her excitement though bossing the other gems around during the preparation of the ceremony in the main chamber of the Temple, much to the annoyance of Amethyst and, surprisingly, Garnet.

"Careful with those totems Amethyst, you are being too clumsy." Pearl said to the annoyed pudgy gem as she directed her attention to Garnet, who was trying to set up the banners of the Tribunal. "No, no, no! Those banners are not balanced enough. Come on Garnet, I expect better from you."

"Of course Pearl…" Garnet grumbled at the response. It seemed abnormal for a collected Gem like Garnet to get annoyed like this, but then again try keeping calm after setting up the same banner repeatedly for the past two hours. As Pearl turned her focus on setting up a small shrine in the center of the banners, which consisted of several totems, a marker, and three statures of two men and a woman that resembled Rose, a young excited voice echoed into the room.

"GOOOD MORNING CRYSTAL TRABUAL!" Steven shouted as he dove into the room like a rock star, ukulele, and all. "ARE YOU READY TO GET APPRECIATED?" The familiar calling of his name in a stern tone quickly silenced his moment of self-proclaimed glory. He then turned his attention to Pearl, who was looking at him with a stern glare while Amethyst was trying to place the Totem without bursting into laughter.

"Steven, please be more sophisticated!" Pearl said as she crossed her arms in front to the young half-gem, "This is an important day for your Gem heritage. Now that you are thirteen, you can finally be in touch with the full potential of your powers.

Steven's eyes lit up at the sound of the word potential, hoping that he would learn a new ability or a new way to use his shield. He quickly rushed over to the shrine and began to pray to it while humming a chant. This ridiculous chant while annoying to Peal was amusing to the other Gems, mainly Amethyst who was rolling on the floor laughing.

"Not like that Stevie." Amethyst gasped as she rolled up next to Steven "You can't just go "Omm" and bow like a fanatic, you have to clear your mind and get in touch with the Tribunal through your gem. It's like summoning your weapon except you direct the energy to the shrine." She then sat up and turned to Garnet "Hey Garnet, can you help me out here?"

Garnet nodded as she walked over and sat next to Steven in a half-lotus position. Amethyst then proceeded to do the same as the two gems proceeded to begin to pray. Steven looked at the two Gems and then to Pearl.

"I don't get it?" he said as he scratched his head "How will this summon that Trabural guy?"

Pearl simply rubbed her hand over her eyes "Steven, the Tribunal is not an entity; it is a collection of the three Gems that are carry the pure life essence, or as Topaz called it _Vitae_, of the Crystal Mother. " There is Diamond, The Old King. He is the oldest gem and the embodiment of the Crystal Mother's strength and power. Then there is Topaz, The Taskmaster. They is an embodiment of the Crystal Mother's Knowledge and Wisdom. Then there is your mother, Rose Quartz, The Lion. With her being the embodiment of the Crystal Mother's Emotion and Compassion."

Steven was speechless, he knew his mother was a gem, but he never thought his mother was a Gem God. His eyes looked like dinner plates as a huge smile grew on his face. If his mother was a powerful ruler of the Gems, just think what he could do with that power.

"…which is why Gems are usually divided into groups of three, our group, Garnet as strength, me as intelligence, and Amethyst as…eh… emotions, is a good example of a stable gem team."

Just then, the shrine started to hum as the Totems that Amethyst set started to glow. They then began to glow brighter as the banners began to glow as well. Pearl quickly pushed Steven aside and moved in between Garnet and Amethyst, who were now in a trance from the totems. As Pearl looked at the Totem with anticipation, she quickly bowed to the center totem and began to chant.

"_Vos ego appello __Dominum __Amandas__, __Crystallus __primogenitus __matrem __suam __formam prætulit __fortitudo et__, et __divinum __Cristallum __Imper__-__.__" _Pearl quickly paused before her continuing, realizing that something was missing. As she looked to Garnet and Amethyst and saw that they were entranced and unresponsive, she turned her attention to Steven, who was a bit nervous from seeing Pearl act so strange. Pearl then stood up; her black shot eyes fixated on the young gem before her, and began to walk up to Steven. As she did, she summoned a small knife in her hand.

"Pearl, what are you doing? This isn't funny," Steven said with an anxious laugh as he began to back away "Pearl, stop it."

His pleas were ignored as she brought the knife upward and reached for Steven with her free hand. Steven was scared; he looked to his other gem sisters and saw they were in a trance too, only they were not moving. He then quickly noticed Pearl bring the knife down onto Steven, only for it to be blocked by Steven's shield.

"Pearl snap out of it!" The young gem yelled at Pearl, her eyes fixated on Steven's gem "Pearl it's me, it's Steven!"

The Shrine then let out a large pulse of energy; Steven could feel the power rushing in full force. It felt like he was pushing up against a large gust of wind along with resisting a crazed Pearl. As he began to push her back, he noticed the center Totem was beginning to leak a black fluid.

"Pearl, I am going to destroy the Totem, it's driving you crazy!" the moment he said that, Pearl shoved Steven away and then summoned her spear.

"_Nulla__!__ Quod__cyclum__oportet quod __perseverant__!_" Pearl hissed as she jumped into the air and aimed her spear to strike Steven. "_I__pse __necessitatibus __vos__!_"

As she drove down to puncture Steven, He quickly threw his shield at the Totem, knocking it over and causing it to explode into a bust of energy. This caused Garnet and Amethyst and Garnet to be released from their grasp.

"Whoa, what a trip huh Steven? The pudgy Gem turned around to see where her fellow Gem was "Steven?"

As Garnet began to recollect her mind, she felt Amethyst tug at her shirt so she could see what Amethyst was seeing. As she did, Garnet expression was a look of horror at what she saw. There before the Gems was Steven on the floor, his ukulele held up as a shield to block the spear that Pearl was jabbing Steven with, only for it to have broken through the banjo rip-off and stuck itself into Steven's shoulder. After a few seconds, Pearl suddenly Pearl was snared by the torso was yanked back by Amethyst's whip to allow Garnet to take the long-nosed Gem down with a thud. While Garnet secured her deranged Gem sister, Amethyst carried the semi-unconscious Steven away, praying that he is okay. As the wounded Gem drifted off, he could still hear Pearl screaming like a maniac.

"_I__pse __necessitatibus __mihi__! I__pse __necessitatibus __MIHI!_"

Steven woke up from his unconsciousness to the sight of Amethyst tending to Steven's spear wound, which was now starting to feel like his arm was on fire.

"Don't worry buddy, you are going to be just fine." Amethyst said as she began to clean Steven's wound with a gourd of special Gem water and a small crystal. "This stuff will heal you up licitly-split, and it will be painless."

Steven nodded in strain as she doused the cut with the water. Within minutes, the severed flesh began to mend and repair until Steven's shoulder was good as new. Steven quickly responded to his recovery by sitting up, he then saw Garnet walk into the room, cool as always.

"How is Pearl?" Steven asked with a worried tone, "It was one of the Totems that caused her to go crazy." Steven tried to sit up, only to be restrained by Garnet who the lightly shook her head no.

"Steven, Pearl is fine." She said as she sat down next to the young Gem, "I was able to talk to her and she said that she is experiencing a withdrawal from the power of that totem. It was clever of you to destroy it so quickly." She rubbed Steven's hair and gave him a smile.

Amethyst then responded by grabbing Steven by the shoulder and bringing herself closer to her. "So in appreciation for your brave and stupid endeavor, we are going to take you on a pizza-arcade party!"

Steven quickly rushed out of bed and was about to grab his kitty-bank when a though rushed into his mind. He then turned to the two Gems tending to him with a look of concern.

"What about Pearl, is she coming too?" as he asked that, Garnet and Amethyst looked at each other and then looked back to Steven.

"She needs time to heal Steven." Garnet said in a direct but tranquil tone. "But if you get her a prize, she might like that."

As soon as he heard those words, Steven quickly rushed off to execute his Kitty-bank and reap its metallic insides, all the while yelling out a big get well soon for Pearl. As soon as he was gone Garnet turned to Amethyst, who was now a bit concerned too. Sure, she disliked Pearl's personality, but she still cared for her fellow Gem like a sister.

"She just told me she has the Obsidian Virus." Garnet said in her toneless voice, "She said she can control it for now, but I do not know how long." Amethyst turned pale at the thought of the potential with this Virus this resulted in barrage of questions: "What is going to happen to Pearl? Is she going to die? I thought Gems do not die from disease."

Garnet quickly placed her hand on Amethyst's head to cease her questions and the Gems looked at each other with an expression of concern for Pearl. The Obsidian virus, according to Master Diamond, was a deadly virus that caused abnormal effects in a Gems power and being. The main symptom of the virus is a discharge of viscous Obsidian fluid from the eyes and/or mouth. Until now, there was only one other case of the virus on a small gem colony run by Diamond, hence his initial discovery of it.

"There might be a way to cure the virus, but in order to do that; I would have to locate the original Temple of the Crystal Guardians. If I can find it, I might find a clue to curing Pearl."

Before Amethyst could respond, the two of them heard Steven call them to attend his party. The two gems sighed as they decided to prioritize the night with Steven, seeing, as one day would not hurt and they could discuss their plans later.

_**Temple of the Crystal Tribunals, Present Day**_

After hours of trailing through the jungle and the deserts of this planet, Garnet and an exhausted Amethyst reached the gates of the Temple of the Crystal Guardians. This gigantic palace was once the original temple to the Crystal Tribunal. As Garnet's Eyes explored the ruined structure of the ancient building. He mind began to drift for the first time in ages, and she was reminded of a time when the other Gems cast her out because of her eyes. She then remembered a tall powerful man handing her a pair of visors and patting her on the head. However, her moment of nostalgia was interrupted by the sound of Amethyst, who took the form of a bull, smashing her head into the doors before her. Although this did not even crack the large doors, the impact certainly cracked Amethyst's skull.

"I luv me an are-plan!" Amethyst slurred as he slumped to the ground with a concussion, only to quickly recover and turn to Garnet and direct her hands to the door in a snappy fashion. "You got any ideas Garnet? Cause I would love to hear them."

Garnet simply walked up to the doors and looked at then carefully; she then summoned her gauntlets and placed them on the giant doors. As she did, the doors began to glow and an etching of a gem appeared on the doors. Garnet then uttered a phrase to the door.

"_S__alutationem__! __E__go autem__su__m Garnet and A__methystus__, C__ristallum__ T__ua __G__emma__de__terrae__! __E__go autem __postulet __introitu__ in __haec__tem plum__! __Numquid__ vos __permiserit __nobis __permissione_?

The moment she finished her phrase, there was a loud banging noise, which was followed by the sound of the two huge doors opening up. Amethyst was impressed by Garnet's knowledge of how to access this temple. To have knowledge of the ageless password to the original grounds of the Crystal Gems meant that Garnet was eager to save Pearl, perhaps this meant that Garnet's affection for Pearl was deeper than what Amethyst assumed. Perhaps, Garnet's feelings were for more than friendship.

As the two gems explored the ruins of the Temple, they came across the ancient study of the Masters. This was a huge crystal library where the Masters perfected their magic and where they thought the younger Gems said magic. Garnet and Amethyst both shuffled through the books page by page, but there was nothing indicating the Obsidian Virus. As Garnet read the last book, Amethyst let out a long grunt of frustration.

"This is perfect, all this time wasted and it was all for nothing!" Amethyst then picked up a book and hurled it at a painting of a tall man with blond hair and a bronze suit. As the book hit the painting, the book disappeared. Both Garnet and Amethyst were surprised at the sight. Upon further inspection, Garnet noticed that the bottom of the painting frame had an engraving that read:

"_Præceptor__ T__opazius__: M__e__oculos__teneat__scientiam_"

Garnet then looked up at the picture and moved her hands in front of its eyes; she then touched the eyes and quickly vanished. Amethyst quickly followed suit. Both Gems realized they were teleported into a private study. There were scrolls, crystals, bottles, and books everywhere. There was also a large desk with parchment, a few quills, and a large book. As the two gems surrounded the book, Garnet lifted the book off the dusty table and blew the dust off it, much to the sneezing annoyance of Amethyst. Garnet read the cover of the book that read: _Quod __Vetere__ R__egem_. Garnet and Amethyst beamed with hope realizing that this was the personal memoirs of Master Diamond, the Gem who discovered the Obsidian Virus, this book could have the answer they was looking for. As she opened the book and began to read the pages about the "_I__psum__ O__bsianas__ V__irus __Q__uod_," she was expecting to find out about a cure for the pathogen. However, as she continued to read the book, her realization quickly shifted into a horrible realization. Amethyst noticed Garnet's hands starting to tremble and tried to yank the book out of Garnet's fist. When she finally did, she noticed Garnet's expression of a gaped mouth and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Garnet what's wrong?" Amethyst said with a tone of concern "Is the Virus untreatable?"

"No" Garnet uttered in dread, the very tone make Amethyst perk up in anxiety "It's much worse than that. We have to get back to the temple, there is no time now!"

Garnet yanked the confused Amethyst and the two of them began to dash to the exit of the temple.

"Garnet, what's wrong?" Amethyst shouted as they raced through the temple halls.

"It the virus, Th-*"Her explanation was quickly interjected by a large holographic fist that made contact with her face. As Garnet slid back, she and Amethyst looked at their assailant. There standing between the Gems and the door was three holograms of knights in Crystal armor. The hologram on the left was a golden hologram that summoned a large lance. The red hologram on the left summoned a large rose shield. Finally, the white hologram in the center summoned a large mace. It was obvious that these holograms were to protect the temple from thieves and intruders. However, something was not right, why would they attack fellow Gems?

"Garnet?" Amethyst asked as she summoned her whip "Do you have an idea on how we can escape alive and in one piece?

Garnet summoned her gauntlets and then extended her hand to Amethyst. "By fighting them all as one piece!"

The pudgy Gem then let out a big grin as she grasped Garnet's hand. "Sugilite?"

Garnet looked to the holograms, who were now charging at them, and then she looked back at Amethyst and smiled as well.

"Sugilite!"


	5. The Face

Original Idea by: Scraps

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 5: The Many Faces of Pearl

[*]

Connie's head throb as she came to. It seemed like at one moment she was standing in Steven's house and the next, she was here. As her vision began to adjust to the surrounding around her, Connie was in a stone room with lights coming from the crystals on the walls, and a glowing blue conductor on the top of the ceiling. She blinked her eyes in confusion as she tried to get up. She then found out that she was unable to move her arms as she quickly looked around and realized her situation. She tried to move her arms but as she did, she felt a pulse of agony as she looked at her body. Her confusion quickly turned to horror as she found herself naked, and strapped onto a table. Metal cuffs held down her limbs and neck and they had been enforced with an engraving of some kind. As Connie struggled to get free, she then felt a slight pain in her lower back. Like a large blade was stuck in her back. She then looked down at her swollen belly that carried her child. As much as she was relieved to see no harm to her or the child, she was still worried about why she was here.

"HELP" Connie cried as she continued to struggle I an attempt to break free "PLEASE HELP ME! STEVEN! PEARL! IS ANYONE THERE?"

Just then, she heard a thud as one of the walls of the room began to open. As Connie lifted her head to see the door, she saw Pearl walk in holding under one of her arms a wooden box. As Connie watched Pearl set her box on a nearby table, her memory was beginning to return and she realized who brought her here.

"PEARL!" Connie shouted at the Gem, slightly startling her and drawing her attention to the pregnant girl before her "Where am I? Why am I here? Where is Steven?"

Just as Connie stopped talking, a warm smile grew on Pearl's face. Connie then noticed the black liquid trickling from Pearl's eyes. One of the drops landed on Connie's hand and caused her to flinch at the burn it left behind. She then saw Pearl point her hand at the table Connie was strapped to and said a simple word:

"_Surgite_"

As she did, Connie felt the table move upward until it was at a ninety-degree angle, with her feet facing the floor and her head facing the floor. Pearl then walk over to Connie and grasped her chin with her hand as she inspected the face of the young captive before her.

"You know how Steven's mother died?" Pearl said in a calm yet unnerving voice "Did he tell you about Rose?"

Connie remembered what Steven told her about his mother, Rose, and how she sacrificed her physical form to create her son. She then started to realize what Pearl was saying and her lip quivered in fear. "Am I….A-Am I going to d-d-die?"

Pearl's smile faded into a look of disgust and as she let go of Connie, she lifted her hand to summon a knife, and plunged it down onto Connie's shoulder with full force. The sudden pain of the wound and the shock caused Connie to let out a blood-curdling shriek. As she screamed and bawled in pain from the wound, she then felt a hard slap across her face that knocked off her glasses and ceased her screaming. She then felt Pearl grasp her hair to draw her attention to the Gem before her. As she used her free hand to grasp the knife stuck in Connie's shoulder, her expression changed to a blank expression.

"You're not going to die like that!" The gem hissed at Connie "You cannot die like that! Gems do not give up their physical forms when they give birth. I made that up."

"Y-You killed her then?" Connie said in a scared yet controlled tone "You k-k-killed her and lied about it?"

"Yes" Pearl whispered, pulling out the knife and walking towards the wooden box on the table. Connie could not see what Pearl was doing, but she knew it was going to be horrible. As she tried to break, free of the restraints. Pearl returned to Connie's vision, now wearing a black apron and black gloves and following her was with a hovering box that was opened and revealing its contents of shears, scalpels, and saws. Connie then realized what Pearl was going to do and began to panic. She now was trying to move faster, hoping to break free with enough force. Fresh tears poured from her eyes as she watched Pearl lift up a scalpel to examine it before placing it down.

"PEARL PL-PLEASE, DON'T DO THIS!" Connie streaked as she struggled with the cuffs "TH-THIS ISN'T RIGHT, YOU KNOW THIS!" Despite her begging, Pearl ignored the bleats as she reached for and lifted a larger scalpel. As she examined it, she then smiled and uttered another word:

"_C__lauditis_"

In response to the uttering of that phrase, the engravings on the cuffs on Connie's body began to glow white as then Connie felt her body stiffen and immobilize. She then tried to scream but could not find the ability to make even a whimper. However, the pain from her shoulder was still there, which meant that while she could not move a muscle, she could still feel pain. She then watched in horror as Pearl walked up to Connie and rested her hand on her childbearing stomach, smiling at the payload before her.

"I should have never let Steven go on that date with you, no; I never should have let him meet you." Pearl said to the crying girl as she gently rubbed her swollen stomach "You have been a hindrance in "_His_" plan, even more that Steven or even Greg was. Do you realize I had to jump through so many hoops thanks to all of you, not to mention the amount of effort to trick Garnet and Amethyst? Because of you, that child you carry has a portion of Rose's power. Nevertheless, it does not matter anymore; as of now, Steven, your parents, and Greg have gone to Shellpoint to make plans for your delivery. Unfortunately, when they return, they will find out that there will was a sudden change of plan."

As Pearl dragged her tongue across Connie's belly, then looked over to Connie who was trying to speak despite the restraints preventing her, Pearl sighed in annoyance and she lightly waved her hand and Connie's voice restraint deactivated, Allowing the young girl to scream and cry for mercy. Pearl was startled by the screaming and lifted her knife up, silencing the girl as she now knew what was going to happen next.

"…no…" Connie whimpered as Pearl directed the blade towards Connie's stomach. "Pearl P-P-Please! No! I-" but her pleas were cast aside as Pearl continued her speech.

"Don't be so worried though, I made precautions for you." The long-nosed gem smiled as her crying prey "You won't die from this, not unless I allow it. Besides, you shouldn't be so upset after all…"

"Everyone makes mistakes"

Before Connie could respond, she felt the blinding pain of a knife plunge into her belly. Connie screamed and screamed as she felt the blade cut through her womb and the warm blood pouring around her. She then saw Pearl, soaked with blood, put the knife down in the floating box, and pick up a pair of shears. Connie screamed and cried as loudly as possible, praying that someone could hear her. However, alas, as she felt the pangs of shears cutting her flesh, her hope to be saved was quickly diminished. She then watched in horror as Pearl put aside the shears and reached into the gaping wound to acquire her long-awaited prize: the child of Connie Patel and Steven Quartz Universe, preserved in a gem-like sac.

Pearl smiled as she looked at the creature before her. She then turned towards the gasping mother who was just gutted alive and looked her straight in the eye.

"Pl-p-ease st-stop… k-ll m-me…" Connie gasped, whatever force was keeping her alive was surly working. Pearl simply shook her head as she placed the gem child on a nearby table and then summoned her bloody knife. Connie, powerless to stop Pearl, watched with horror and tear-laced eyes as Pearl sliced open the gem sac and exposed the screaming infant to her.

"It is amazing isn't it?" Pearl said as she placed her hand around the infant's neck, "His gem powers have accelerated his growth cycle, much like Steven did. Sadly though, like Steven, this child has another weakness: mortality."

*crack*

Pearl could hear the screams of anguish coming from Connie as she placed the Gem of the child on the table before her. She then waved her hand and summoned forth a small portal, were she placed the body of the Gem-spawn. As she removed her bloody apron and gloves and placed then on the table as well, she looked down at the bloody wounded girl before her. Having been disemboweled and tortured, kept alive by horrific gem magic, the young girl looked up at Pearl, begging her to end I all, Only to hear this response instead.

"I think I will leave you alone to comprehend what has happened, besides, you have been and still are making a huge amount of Vitae, I would not want that to go to waste now do I?" and with that Pearl left the room and closed the door behind her. Thus, leaving behind the suffering young girl and now was ready for what would happen next.

[*]

Greg Universe was closing up his was and ready to hit the sack. It was decided that he, along with Steven, would actually stay behind to make sure that Connie was okay. He was not too worried because if Steven can survive being a cat-monster, he could surly survived being a teen dad. As he walked to his van, he stopped and pulled a locket from his cargo pants. As he opened it, there was a picture of Greg, as dorky as ever, with the contempt Rose Quartz by his side. As he sighed and closed he locket, He felt a hand grab his shoulder and he quickly jolted in response.

"Shoulder grabs defense strategy twelve: Buck Morris's Square-Cabin Ki-"He halted at the sight of Pearl before him. In addition, he quickly composed himself before the caretaker of his child. "Oh hey Pearl! Greg said sheepishly, a bit embarrassed at what just happened "what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I came to see if Steven was here." Pearl sighed as she brushed her hair back with her hand. "Where is he by the way?"

"He's working as "Tiger Millionaire" at Cecile's fight club." Greg explained, "He won't be home for at least a few hours. I tell you, the kid is determined to make Connie and her baby happy." Greg then turned to Pearl with a look of curiosity. "So, about that predicament, I am sure Connie told you…"

Pearl smiled warmly as she placed her hand on Greg's arm. "Don't worry about it; I have taken care of everything, Connie is on her way to that surrogate therapy session. Now, if you excuse me."

Greg was a little suspicious about what Pearl said. Normally, he would lay low and keep out of Gem business, but in this situation, he knew he had to put his foot down. If fact, he could tell just by looking a Pearl that something was off. He proceeded to step in front of Pearl to block her.

"Greg," Pearl said with a tone of annoyance "Get out of my way; I have to talk to Steven."

"Oh you will," Greg said as he crossed his arms over his chest "Right after you take me to Connie and I ha-."

The next thing Greg knew, he was decked in the face by Pearl and had dropped face first to the cement below him. As Greg started to get up, Pearl quickly grabbed his shoulder and twisted it, quickly bringing the portly man to a state of unconsciousness. For a logical Gem, this act was quite surprising, even for Pearl.

"You clueless, mindless human." Pearl sighed as she knelt over Greg "Now look what you made me do."

She then proceeded to throw Greg into his van and drive it to the Crystal Temple. As she got out of the van, she heard the sound of growling. Pearl then turned to see Lion before her. The look in his eyes meant that he was aware of Pearls actions and was ready to stop them. Pearl casually summoned her spear and made a large grin on her face.

"You know, from the moment you showed up I never liked you." She laughed at Lion "You lack any Vitae but you will make for a great throw rug."

Lion responded to this with a large roar as he charged at the Gem before him. Not once did he hesitate or flee, not once did he pull back his attacks. Even as he felt the spear pierce his body and saw the obsidian tears flow from Pearl's eyes down her grinning face as his life faded, he showed no signs of fear. Pearl then pulled the spear from Lion's body and just as she did, the animal's corpse disappeared into a huge bouquet of flames. As Pearl lifted Greg from the van and carried him into the temple, she looked back to the "grave" of lion and scoffed.

"_S__purcum __p__auca __bestia__!_"


	6. The Flesh

Original Idea by: Scraps

Extended and modified by: Sir Wafflington

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 6: A Pound of Flesh

[*]

"Ugh, my head." Greg groaned, his vision was blurry and he was disoriented, he rubbed the back of his head and then looked at his bloody hand and then at his surroundings. "What Happened? Were the Hell am I?"

Meet Greg Universe, this man is the father of a young half-gem by the name of Steven. He also had a wife named Rose Quartz, but she had given up her physical form to create their child. Despite being Steven's biological father, his role as a caretaker has been usurped by the three Crystal Gems known as Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. These three were known to be close to Rose and disliked Greg, especially Pearl.

As his eyes adjusted to the dark and his head began to clear, Greg looked around where he was. He was in a room made of stone and there were no windows or signs of light. As he looked at the floor, He realized that he had been stripped of all his clothing. What he could see in front of him was a large cloak covering something and behind that, there was a door. As Greg rose up to get a better look, he then felt a sharp pain in his back and as he ran his hands across his back, he felt a small bump on his back, it was like something was stuck in his back. When Greg tried to pull it out, He received a powerful shock, dropping the portly man to his knees.

"HELP…SOMEONE!" Greg shouted, hoping that someone was outside "IS ANYONE THERE?"

Just then, the door opened, releasing a blinding light that caused Greg to turn away. As he lowered his hands from his face, he saw a figure in the light that began to walk closer to him. Greg began to stand up to greet the figure.

"Oh thank God" Greg said as he stumbled to the figure before him "Thank you s-"

However, before Greg could finish his sentence, the figure decked hi in the stomach, causing Greg to falter again. This time though, the force of that punch caused Greg to vomit, heaving up a puddle of bile right on the floor before him and the figure before him. As he began to control himself, he heard a small chuckle and he looked up at his assailant and, as he soon realized, captor. She stood before him with a mixed look of disgust and amusement. Her grin was sinister and it stretched across her long-nosed face.

It was Pearl, one of the Crystal Gems, but what was he doing here and why did she attack Greg?

"You are a disgusting human, you know that?" Pearl said in an icy tone that made Greg's heart stop, "I cannot see why Rose saw anything in you?"

"Pearl, what the hell are you doing" Greg said as he regained his posture "why are you doing this to me?"

Pearl then grabbed Greg and lifted him up so they were face to face. She was so close to Greg that he could see the anger and hate flowing in her black shot eyes.

"Why you ask? WHY?" Pearl yelled at Greg "IT'S BECAUSE YOU AND ROSE!" She then lifted Greg up and threw him against the wall. Greg hit the wall so hard that the impact left a crack in the stone. As he slid onto the floor, he gasped and looked up at the enraged, but still, Gem before him.

"It is your fault that Rose had to die!" Pearl explained to Greg "Not only was she our caretaker and our leader, but she was one of the Crystal Tribunal. Now all we have is a half-child who cannot even use her powers and does not even know a thing about responsibility."

Greg tried to sit up but he could not find the strength to do so. Pearl then walked over to the large cloak, turned to face Greg as she grabbed the top of the cloak, and pulled it away. There was a large tray of tools and surgical equipment. This included a hammer, several scalpels, a saw, a wood shaver, a box of needles, several spools of metal wire, a melon baller, a pair of shears, and a large butcher cleaver. The sight of these caused Greg to turn pale as he began to realize why Pearl had these in this room.

"You're not going use those on me, right?" Greg said terrified, hoping that she wanted to build something simple and non-lethal.

"Of course I won't," Pearl, said with a neutral tone.

Greg, sighed with relief at the thought of-

"You will."

Greg froze and rose up to face Pearl. He first chuckled a little at what she said, but as he looked at her face, the chuckle turned into a small whimper.

"You see, when Rose created Steven, She gave up her physical form so that your son could live." Pearl lifted up one of the scalpels and looked at it. "You were responsible for this and now you must pay your dues." She placed the Scalpel down and turned to face Greg. "Or as you humans describe it as: Your pound of flesh."

Greg weakly rose up with a look of disbelief at what Pearl was saying. "What the hell does her death have to do with all this? What do I owe to you?"

Pearl scoffed and started to walk towards the door. "It is your turn to give up you form and create a son for Rose, just as she did for you." As she reached the door, she turned to face Greg one last time.

"Oh, one more thing, I placed a specialized crystal on your body that was made by Master Diamond, He created it so he could interrogate prisoners in and they would survive the effects afterword. That will make sure you live to fulfill your debt to Rose."

She then walked to the other side of the door and began to close it. Greg tried to run to the door to stop Pearl, but his leg was broken and all he could do was limp toward the door.

"PEARL! PEARL STOP, PLEASE!" Greg shouted as he tried to reach toward the door "NO!" Greg screamed, but his screams of mercy were ignored, by the time he reached the door, it had already closed shut. Greg tried to push the door open, pull at it, punch it, and even slam his body against it. However, it was no use. Eventually, Greg was exhausted from his feeble attempt of escape and sat down against the door, facing the tray of tools meant to extract a cruel justice. Greg was terrified, trying to find a shred of hope or a way of escape.

"This is a joke." Greg said to himself "This is one big joke. Pearl would not do this to me. She knows that Steven cares a lot about me. He will find out, and so will the others. Yeah, just have to give them some time. They will get me out of here."

"Just got to give them a little time..."

[*]

The perception of time for a human seems different in solitary confinement. Seconds feel like minutes, which feel like hours, which feel like days, which feel like weeks, which feel like months, which feel like years, which feel like Decades, which feel like centuries, which feel like millenniums, which feel like eons.

This was worst for Greg; imagine what it was like to be imprisoned for what felt like years in the dark, with no food, no water, a broken leg, and broken ribs, and the thought that you were tasked with giving up your flesh and the thought of staying alive through the process. Greg knew first hand that there was no way of removing the crystal in his back. Therefore, he decided not to give Pearl what she wanted, despite the fact that in the back of his mind, he believed Pearl was right.

As more time passed, malnutrition, and dehydration were starting to set in. this, along with the lack of light and perception of time, was starting to take its toll on Greg's mind. He was beginning to lose touch with reality as he began to hallucinate. He would see and hear flies buzzing around his face; the buzzing actually started to sound like singing. He also saw the walls and ground moving, the bile stain from earlier was moving around and gurgling like a creature with a face that looked like his, Steven's and the Crystal Gems. Greg could hear strained voices whispering to him. He also began to saw in the dark strange shadows that accompanied these voices. Some of the shadows looked like people, some looked like animals, and some looked like a mixture of both. Soon, the voices began to get louder and louder, turning from simple voices into shrieks and animal bleats. Greg tried to stand up, but his broken leg gave in to his weight and he fell back down to the floor. Greg began to sob and then screamed in frustration until he ran out of breath. He then then grabbed his leg and pulled it towards him, breaking it even further.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT" Greg Screamed at his broken leg, bone now protruding from the side.

"Wi is it f'rks falt? How is it f'rks falt?" The leg snapped back at Greg. Red Smoke was now emerging from the protruding bone, which quickly turned into blood red wasps.

"If you hadn't broken, I could have escaped. I could have been free." Greg sobbed as he cupped his face with his hands. "I could have been free." Greg then tried to swat at the wasps that now proceeded to sting Greg repeatedly.

"Yu wilt bea jokn." The leg sniggered "it Greg falt f'r ben her, Greg te won ho kel te Ros, Greg falt f'r pisn te Lung-Nos of and Greg falt f'r ben Greg."

Greg placed his hands over his ears as he tried to drown out Leg's abuse, the wasps stinging him, the yelling from the voices and the bleats from shadows around him. Greg's mind was already starting to slip. He placed both his hands over his ears and bent his head down, trying to shut out all the noise.

"Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut."

Greg closed his eyes but it was no use, closing his eyes was no different than opening them and the laughing and bleats and the buzzing were getting louder and louder and the stings were hurting more and more. Greg's head was pounding and hands are shaking.

"SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT! SHUT!"

"R wat? yr guna cuteth me of?" Leg chattered mockingly with his bug-ridden smile "Em a prt of u, gr'd dn't evn hav te guts!"

It was at this moment Greg's mental rope that held him together snapped, and then, there was nothing but silence both from Leg, and from Greg.

Then Greg began to whimper softly, muttering gibberish and murmurs, these then turned into giggling, which then shifted into an up roaring guffaw, until Greg was reduced to a Gibbering mess. He pushed the tray of tools over and they fell to the floor with a loud crash. He then reached for the butcher cleaver and lifted it up above Leg, who was now laughing hysterically as well.

"IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT PEARL? Greg screamed into the darkness around him "YOU WANT MY FLESH? HERE LET ME GIVE IT TO YOU THEN!"

LET!

*whack*

ME!

*whack*

GIVE!

*whack*

IT!

*whack*

ALL!

*whack*

TO!

*whack*

YOU!

*CRACK*

Leg screamed with ecstasy as the Cleaver fell towards him repeatedly. Greg could feel the warm blood splashing on his body, the rush of agony coursing through his brain with every chop. Ignoring the Voices and bleats that laughed at him and actually joining in the laughter as well. It was at this moment that the fallen singer/ car wash owner and single father had snapped completely, the once stable mind of Greg Universe was now long gone.

It was uncertain whether it was the abuse from Leg, the lack of food, water, time, and light, or the knowledge that he was doomed that gave him the ability to resist the blinding pain. Whatever the reason, Greg lost either the feeling of pain or his care for it. He began to use the very tools he feared as thought they were crayons to a child. He used them to cut, rip, tear, slice, gouge, break, castrate, pierce, and embroider the very flesh he needed. All he cared about now was fulfilling his end of the bargain, to give Pearl and Rose his pound of flesh, to create a being from his physical form.

[*]

As this hellish ordeal proceeded though the night, Pearl was greeting Steven, who had just returned from a hard day's work at Mr. Smiley's Arcade/Fun Land. After a soothing bath and a delicious meal of Pearl's homemade Pork chops, the long-nosed gem carried Steven up to his bed to tuck him. As she did, he continued to tell her about his new job as a wrestling mascot. "…and then Chunk Truck threw down his fist and Dashing Danny dodged it and punched Concrete Heat in the crotch. Then Handsome Hank and Dashing Danny smashed them both and…!" Steven was still talking, even when he was set into his bed. Pearl was glad to see the 14-year half-gem was still this innocent. She was also glad that he was still himself even after the whole ordeal.

"Okay, Okay." Pearl said in a calm soothing voice, "You can tell me the rest in the morning, but for now, get some rest."

As she kissed his forehead and started to walk down the ladder when she heard the young gem ask her something:

"Do you think I can get tickets for my Dad? I haven't had a chance to see him since he got back from Shellpoint."

Pearl paused for a moment, and then got back up to sit next to Steven.

"Steven…" Pearl said, pretending to sound concerned "I wanted to tell you in the morning, but I think I should tell you now."

"Tell me what? What happened to my Dad Pearl?" Steven sat up, anxious about the situation "What happened to my Dad?

Pearl noted his response in her head, and already had the perfect response set up. "Steven….one of the Crystal Beasts we captured escaped into and…your father..."

She looked into Steven's tear-filled eyes; he was really eating this up.

"Your father sacrificed his life to kill the Beast." Pearl said as she placed a hand on Steven's shoulder, "I am sorry that he is gone. But remember that he gave his life to protect the people he cared about."

Steven sniffled, trying to act mature about the situation. "He died a hero then?" Steven said as he wiped his eyes with a small smile "At least he will be able to be with Mom, won't he?"

Pearl smiled as she re-tucked the young gem in his bed. "I am sure he will."

"Did he suffer?" Steven asked sadly as he lay in his bed.

"Not one bit" Pearl said soothingly, trying to hold back her laughter, as she kissed him on the forehead. "Now go to sleep Steven, I will prepare everything for tomorrow."

Steven nodded as he drifted off to sleep, knowing that his Dad was at peace and in a better place and Greg was a good name for a kid, and perhaps he would tell Connie when she returns from that surrogate therapy session.

[*]

Later in the night, as Steven went off to sleep, Pearl walked down the halls of the temple, she stopped before a large door that was sealed off. She then lifted from her shirt a diamond necklace with a small carving engraved on it. Pearl then touched the gem to the door and Pearl was teleported into Connie's chamber. The poor girl was whimpering as she looked to Pearl was a look of desperation. Pearl Smiled as she then teleported out of her chamber and was now returning to the chamber that held Greg. As she opened the door, the Gem was greeted by the smell of decay and the feelings of warm air rushing out of the dark room. As Pearl entered the room, she raised her hand and created a small ball of light, which she sent to the top of the celling. She then directed his attention to the sight before her.

"How are we doing Greg?" She spoke in an eerie manner.

There, with his bloody back facing Pearl, was Greg Universe, sitting on in a pool of his blood and waste and uttering gargled whimpering, both his legs and his genitals were gone and so was his entire left arm, his skin was shredded and cut to the point bone could be clearly seen. The whole room was covered in blood, waste, and used equipment. This sight repulsed even Pearl. As Pearl walked up next to him, slightly anxious about her master's reaction to this, she looked up to a large blue conductor that was sticking out of the ceiling.

"Wonder how I was able to extract all of your Vitae and yet you are still alive." Pearl said in a curious but firm tone, "You are alive because I modified one of Diamond's obelisks as a conductor for the Vitae Extractor? Therefore, it would not only keep the Human alive, but also extract all of the Vitae in its purist form. Then you were driven to madness and then self-mutilation?"

Pearl nodded lightly for a minute as she thought of this whole process, looking at Greg, then the conductor, and then the necklace to Connie's chamber, which was given the same procedure. She then gave this response to the whole ordeal:

"Very impressive."

"Of course it is," she ranted in excitement "Diamond had learned that Vitae can be extracted by subjecting a being to great distress. The only problem was to extract the most out of a subject without killing him or having him adjusts to the process." She then turned away from Greg with a look of delight "I had never thought of using psychological deteriorations as a torture. Even now, he is releasing Vitae in a decent amount. Perhaps that is why Connie is… "

Just then, her attention was drawn to the large bloody flesh pile that was once Greg Universe. As he turned to "face" her, both Pearl was startled at the sight. Greg had proceeded to cut off his lips, nose, and ears and cheeks. His eyes were gouged out and his tongue, along with his lower jaw, was missing. They also noticed that his scalp was missing, exposing his skull underneath. Pearl then saw that Greg was holding something in his remaining digit less hand. As Greg crawled to the light ringing sound, he dropped to the floor and then slipped the object before the both of them like a bloody mutilated slug.

"uuurrrhhh!" Greg groaned having little to no way of communicating properly anymore "aaaa aiiiiiie eeeehhh,hhhhhrrr eeeehh hiiish! "

He then proceeded to use his remaining head to push the object toward his tormentor. The object was a large doll that looked like a little boy, made out of flesh and wire, it was well done, it had toes, fingers, eyes, a nose, hair, genitals, lips, and even teeth and a jaw. However, it was missing one thing.

"Greg," Pearl said as she summoned a crystal fragment from her gem "Were is his Gem?"

" wwuuhh?!" Greg gurgled furiously "aaa uueoo ssaaauuu…"

Greg began to Shutter violently, spitting up blood and bile as he tried to gurgle a scream of fury, after all, he went through, and it was for nothing. Pearl was watching this with a look of amusement. Still impressed with the effort put in extracting Vitae.

"Impressive work, but what will happen to you now?" Pearl spoke with a smile as she picked up the flesh doll and she summoned a Crystal Fragment that she jabbed into its forehead. As she dropped it to the floor, it suddenly began to shake and shudder and it began to rise off the floor. As it stood up on its feet, the doll made a terrifying shriek, a streak so loud, that Greg could feel the vibration and he began to whimper, releasing a bloody liquid from where his genitals used to be.

As Pearl turned away with a smile as she walked out the door, as she was out of the room, she turned back to the abomination before her and as she closed the door, she gave the creature one final command:

"Exenterem cruciabilis"

As she shut the door and sealed it, she could still hear the streaks of the doll, the mutilated cries of Greg, and the tearing of flesh. She then waved her hand in front of the door, it slowly began to fade into the wall, until both the door, and the sounds behind it, were gone. Afterword, Pearl turned away, delighted overall her progress.

"I am impressed with my success in the extracting of all this Vitae. However, what will I to do about Garnet and Amethyst when they return? But then again, why would I leave that Flesh Doll alive?"

Pearl grabbed her face and dragged her nails down her face, laughing maniacally as her nails sliced her face; she was now ready to initiate the final stage of the ritual. First, she would have to make some more pork chops for Steven.


	7. The Master

Original Idea by: Scraps

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 7: The Master in the Vault Chamber

[*]

Temple Vault, 15 years ago

The waters were still in the dark caves below the island. These caves were home to a special temple that carried all sorts of weapons and relics. From cannons to swords, to robots to even a giant penny, this vault almost seemed limitless in its supply of items. However, little did any gem but one knew that there was a dark secret with this vault. A secret that only one Gem knew about and that Gem's name was Pearl.

In the darkness of the cave, a light shined and from the light, a gem appeared, it was Pearl, only she seemed different. Her expression was that of a blank but cold stare, almost as if she had just committed a heinous crime. Her shirt had a large bloodstain on the front and her hands were bloody. She proceeded to walk to the center of the large vault. As she did, the hand shaped center rose up, demanding the owner to place their hand onto the pedestal. Pearl then planted her bloody hand onto the center and the whole cave brightened. Pearl then smiled and pronounced a single command to the vault.

"Monumentum de Dominum"

Upon hearing the command, a section of the vault opened up, revealing a set of stairs descending into the vault. As Pearl removed her hand and walked down the staircase. She could hear the sound of heavy breathing until she reached a large stone door with the crest of the Crystal Tribunal engraved on the front. As she reached to open the giant gate, she hesitated and then began to feel her eyes starting to sting. She then realized that she was leaking black bile from her eyes, it was the bile of the Obsidian virus, and it meant that her master was expecting her. Just as she opened the door, she felt the cold air pierce her body as she entered the chamber.

In this chamber was a huge cave, the black rocks surrounded Pearl and blinded her from the sigs before hr. Just then, a flash of silver light formed, revealing before her the figure that she had come to see. The being was a giant, about the size of Opal, and was silhouette within the darkness. Pearl could still see, however, his large figure sitting before her from the gleaming Gem on his right shoulder. As she the figure before her, she quickly knelt before the pitch-black titan and began to pray to him.

"Vos ego appello Dominum Anancites ipsum obsidiani, Crystallus primogenitus matrem suam formam prætulit fortitudo et, et divinum Cristallum Imperij omnipotentis loquentis. Evigilabit ex dormitione tuaita ut, Vestibulum, atque hereditate tuam discipulus, ut tibiquod petis. Vitae."

As soon as she finished her chant, she looked up at the being before her. Suddenly, the giant's right eye flashed open. Its sudden appearance and cold red stare startled Pearl, The being stared at her as if it was a parent staring down their child after they did something wrong. Pearl knew that her master was displeased and before she could say anting else, she felt his large hand smack her across the chamber and into one of the walls. As she rose off the floor, she rubbed her forehead and felt something strange; she then placed her hands around her gem and felt the three new cracks in her gem. As she gasped in shock, she felt a mixed feeling of horror and fear as she soon heard a roaring voice that filled her very being with dread.

"Vestibulum…" The giant's voice echoed of the chamber walls as he stood up from the ground he was sitting on, "What have you done? You have betrayed me!"

Pearl was frozen with fear, never had she seen the full fur of her master. As he approached her, she could feel his footsteps vibrating the ground beneath her and could see his presence towering over her. It did not take long for her to realize that what she had done jeopardized his plans. Pearl quickly stood up and began to plead wither master for mercy.

"Master…betray you? Never." The Gem begged to the giant before her "I would never betray you." However, her pleas fell short as the being's glare silenced her voice. She felt the burning tears of Obsidian run down her cheeks, leaving behind small scars in their wake. She then jumped at the sound of his voice as he began to speak to her again.

"Do not think for a moment that I am naïve of your actions. I can see what you see and I know what you know. " The master coldly explained to his servant as he marched up to her, "You have neglected my orders in favor of your own bloodlust, and now it has caused a great disruption in my plans. You have ruined everything!"

Pearl was terrified, it was her fault that the plan was now shot and it was because of this that her master was upset. She noticed that he was just staring at her, as if he was waiting for an explanation.

"I did not mean to Master, It was an accident…" Pearl tried to explain to her master, only to receive several sharp and powerful blows to the stomach and face as a reply. As Pearl fell to the floor and began to vomit black bile and blood, she felt his large hand grab her hair and drag her up. Pearl screamed in agony as she grabbed for her scalp that burned from her master's iron grip, he then threw her across the chamber and into one of the walls. As Pearl was recovering from the impact, she opened her black shot eyes to see her master staring right back at her with a piercing red eye.

"Now, the child has Rose Quartz's Gem potential!" The master hissed as he grabbed Pearl from the ground and stood her up to face him, "This means we will have to wait until the child is at the proper age before we can extract his Vitae! This is unacceptable!"

Pearl looked down at the floor and sniffled softly, as she saw the black tears drop from her eyes and onto the floor, her sniffling turned into crying, because of her, their plan was botched. Because of her, they would now have to wait years before the next chance. All of this hate and anger from her master was because of her. The only thing that she could muster through the sobbing was a simple "I am sorry…" She had hoped that at least he would show leniency to her if she asked for forgiveness. Suddenly, she heard a thud next to her as she saw a large black hand pressed on the wall next to her. She then looked at her master, whose glare was now widened with a look of rage, a look she has seen many times before, a look that could only mean one thing. Pearl's stomach sunk and fresh tears began to pour out of her eyes as she began to realize what he was planning to do. With her back to the wall and with the Master towering over her, there was no escape from the master's punishment.

"No Master!" Pearl tearfully pleaded, realizing that everything that had happened was nothing compared to what was to come, "Please forgive me! No! I am sorry, please, not again!"

The master ignored his servant's cries for mercy as he grabbed Pearl by the neck with his free hand and moved closer to her. Pearl could feel his ice-cold breath upon her being as he took his hand off the wall and planted it on her shoulder. He then made a response that finalized Pearl's fear

"Until that time comes, I think I shall teach you the price of defiance and savagery, and what is a better cure for savagery than savagery itself. Wouldn't you agree?" and with that, The Master clenched his hand and pulled back, ripping away the cloth that he was grabbing from the flesh before him.

"If you resist, you will see no restraint of my fury!"

The events that followed felt as if they went on for eons to Pearl as she lay on the cold chamber floor, stripped of her cloths with a large hand gripping her neck and face. Each penetrating thrust felt as if she was being burned from the inside and each thrust felt as if it was the first. Pearl cried and screamed in agony and despair, black obsidian tears flowed from her eyes and black bile spilled from her mouth. She looked down at her defiled body, covered in cuts, scars, and bruises formed from her Master's wrath, the fluid of shame dripping from her swollen tentabulge. She then shut her eyes, trying to justify in her mind why her master did not kill her for such a critical mistake. She then thought about what had happened to Rose, a member of the Tribunal who she killed, and then she remembered her son Steven, who now carries her powers. She realized that now the powers were in a fresher body and would be more refined. This would mean that the Vitae Steven would produce would be more refined and even stronger. This also meant that there was still a chance of redemption and her Master would give her a second chance. Until then however, she would have to accept her punishment as she had before.

As she felt the thrusting harden and the hand on her neck tighten, Pearl looked up into the eye of her Master and upon seeing his red gaze, her screams turned into moans. The master's eye rose in surprise as she lifted herself up to hold onto his body, planting her head onto his chest, and wrapping her legs around him. The master closed his eye, growling as he tightened his rip from her neck, and dug his hand onto her cut back, the blue blood trickling between his large pitch-black hands as he grasped her tighter. As Pearl gasped in her Master's arms, she began to feel her climax approaching.

"It is okay Pearl!" Pearl gasped as she felt the thrusts grow harder. "Everyone makes mistakes, he will forgive you."

Pearl gasped as she could feel he Master's grip tighten it was almost here. The Master lifted Pearl's head to look into her eyes, his gaze pierced her like a spear through soft cloth.

"I will always serve you Master, for I am your loyal and fateful servant! Without you, I cannot exist. I need you!" Pearl gasped moved her hand around her Master's neck, allowing her to look into his eye when she reached her climax.

"I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you! I need you!"

She felt the trusts get faster and harder with each moment until she felt the thrusts begin to tighten. As she clenched her Master, she felt her climax finally arrive and her Master's vitae explode within her body.

"ANANCITES!" Pearl screamed as she felt the pain of the white-hot vitae flow into her. The sensations that Pearl experienced were nearly unbearable. As she began to falter from exhaustion, the last thing she felt before drifting into unconsciousness was the Master's hand brush across her face, healing her wounds and repairing her Gem. As she looked up to him, she was able to see his glaring eye of red over her.

"You do not yet understand your place in things Vestibulum." The Master sighed as he snapped his fingers, causing Pearl to become fully clothed and clean. He then waved is hand and summoned a portal, which he placed Pearl though. "You have your knowledge and power because I allowed it, and you will control your bloodlust because I demand it." The Master then proceeded to close the portal and sit back down on the floor of the chamber.

[*]

Later that same night, Pearl awoke to the sound of a baby crying, a baby by the name of Steven Quartz Universe. At first, Pearl was reminded of her failure with Rose that resulted in her death, but then she remembered what the Master told her about Steven what had happened earlier. This child holds the power of The Forever Loving. If Pearl obtains the Vitae of the infant, her Master's plan could continue. Why did it have to be at the proper age?

Pearl took a deep breath and summoned forth a small dagger from her gem. As Pearl examined the dagger, she noticed the blade was still coated with blood and there was a small pink hair stuck to the metal. This made Pearl smile, acknowledging that although she was severely punished for her actions, it was worth it to hear those screams. After a few moments of grim nostalgia, Pearl sheathed the dagger and made her way to the main room. This was where Steven was being held and knowing its location and the current whereabouts of the other Gems, She knew this would be perfect. All she needed to do was extract Steven's vitae, kill him, and then make it look like an innocent case of SIDS.

As she reached Steven's crib, she was surprised to see Garnet was already there, and she was even more surprised to see her feeding Steven, luckily, Pearl was able to disperse the dagger before Garnet finished up.

"Hey Garnet…" Pearl said sheepishly as she watched Garnet place Steven into his crib. She blushed a blue hue as she watched the Three-eyed gem turn to face her while she put her shirt back on.

"Don't worry about Steven, I will watch over him tonight Pearl." Garnet said with a toneless voice as she placed a pacifier into his mouth and placed him back into the crib. "Go back to your bed; you look like you could use the sleep."

Pearl sighed as she put both of her hands behind her back and she leaned on the wall. As she did, she summoned a small blade and began to slice her palm. The resulting cut made Pearl's eyes well up.

"I couldn't sleep Garnet!" Pearl sobbed, quickly healing her hand before wiping her eyes of crocodile tears. "I cannot believe Rose sacrificed her physical form, and for what? A stupid human and his Halfling child? It is his fault this happened and it is his fault that Rose is dead! The next time I see him I will"

Pearl's "rant" was quickly halted by Garnet's procedure of hugging Pearl. The long nosed gem felt the warm embrace of her comrade and for a moment, she actually felt peace. This also reminded her about Garnet's feelings towards her, the same feelings that were so useful for her Master's plan. The best part was that the love-fooled Gem had no idea what was really happening. As Pearl was released from the hug, she quickly pretended to yawn and stretch before walking out of the door.

"It's not your fault Rose died Pearl," Garnet said to her Gem friend before she exited the room, "she made the choice to die for Steven. We all have to make choices that may seem impossible, what is important are what we do with our choices and their effect on everyone around us."

"Alright Garnet," pretended to yawn as she returned to her room, "I'll see you tomorrow."

As Pearl returned to her room, disappointed about her missed opportunity to acquire Rose's power, she saw a package sitting on her bed. As she opened the package, there inside laid a small necklace, a map of blank rooms in the temple, a book entitled "Quod Vetere Regem: Quod Vitae Potentialem per Tua Gemma Praeceptor Adamas, and inside book on the front page was a small note which read "Do not fail me again Vestibulum , I have no uses for a careless disciple."

As Pearl crushed the note in her hand, she looked into the mirror on her wall and noticed the small trickle of black liquid from her eye, knowing that as before, her master was watching her every move. She then proceeded to smile at her reflection and to the figure within it.

"By your command and desire Master, I live to serve you!"


	8. The Gem

Original Idea by: Scraps

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 8: To Serve Gem

It had been quite the day for Young Steven, first he had to clean the whole arcade and inspect the machines, then he had to maintain the ticket booth and prevent cheaters from working the system. As the young man dragged out a small, mute who he once claimed to be "The Ticket Master," He let out an exhausted sigh. This work was hard, but it was all worth it to help Connie. Later on in the day, Steven was finishing cleaning the tables in the new food court when Harold Smiley, Steven's new boss and the man who was going to adopt his child, approached him. "Hey Steven, can I ask you something?" The arcade owner/ wrestling sponsor asked his employee. "It's about your kid…" "Sure thing Mr. Smiley" Steven responded with a smile. "What's on your mind?" Harold sat down next to Steven and rubbed his eyes with his hands, he was looking somewhat anxious. "Steven, do you think I'm going to be a good dad? I mean, you have seen how I respond to high stress of kids and I am worried I am going to screw up." Steven nodded as he patted Harold on his baldhead. "Don't worry about it sir!" Steven said with a triumphant voice, "As Pearl always says: Everyone makes mistakes. Besides, you will be the coolest dad ever. You run an arcade and you sponsor wrestling, which is something that in my opinion is so awesome."

Harold smiled and wiped a tear from his eye. "You always know what to say, don't you?" As the tall man stood up, he turned to Steven with a smile. "Steven, go take the day off. You have worked hard for the past few days and you have earned it. Besides, you should see if Connie came back from that session.

Steve gasped, he almost forgot about that. Without another word, the young Gem dropped his cleaning gear and bolted out of the food court. Harold was surprised at Steven's sudden exit, but he soon chuckled as he picked up the washcloth and the spray bottle off the floor. As he rose up and turned around, he saw a strange man inspecting one of his games. The man was quite taller than Harold was, and he was wearing a grey robe with a white tunic underneath. He also had a long nose and a pointed up hairstyle that looked quite familiar, only that the hair was grey and less organized. He also had a grey beard and three large scars on his face. As Harold walked up to him, the man began to speak in a deep, powerful voice, a voice that caused Mr. Smiley to freeze up at the sound.

"She was quite right you know, Human do find interesting ways to waste their time." The man said as he placed his hand on one of the games, shutting it off with a array of sparks and smoke. As Harold was about to object, the man turned to the arcade owner and looked at him with his piercing red eyes. Harold hesitated at the site; he knew this man had a relationship with those friends of Steven's. As the man placed his hand on the Game console again, the screen lit up, showing various events in history. The man then turned to Harold and gestured to the screen. "We gave you so much, we provided you knowledge and potential, and this is what you do with our gift?"

Harold was confused, but he knew this man was trouble. "Okay buddy, I do not know who you are or if you are one of those Gem people, but I think that yo-" Harold was quickly interrupted by the sensation of being lifted into the air. As he looked at the man before him, he realized that his suspicions were true. They were ultimately confirmed by the star shaped hole in his right shoulder sleeve, which revealed a silver colored gem embedded in his right shoulder.

"Do you think you command me? You do not realize that there was a time where your kind viewed us as gods." The man responded to Harold, "I shall be the one deciding your fate human. Now tell me, what do you know about Steven's predicament with his offspring?"

Harold eyes widened at the mention of Steven's kid, "He…He is having a child with a girl named Connie. He also agreed to allow me to adopt the baby once it was born. He works for me to help pay for medical expenses. Look, if this has something to do with those Gems, I am not-"

"_Tacete_" the man commanded as he slammed Harold into one of the arcade walls. Harold gasped from having the wind knocked out of him; he turned to see the man still facing him, his eyes still fixated on his captive. "You have told me what I need to know. I wanted to make sure that she was not lying to me, and I am glad she was not."

"She? Harold asked with concern, he was beginning to make a connection, "Who the Gems? What have you done to them?"

The next thing he knew, the man was standing over him. Before Harold could respond, the tall figure placed a hand on his head. At that moment, Harold began to see strange images; the man was placing a vision into the arcade manager's head. As the seconds passed by, Harold face changed to a look of horror as tears shed from his face, what he saw was a truth he never saw coming.

"No….not her….not her…"

Harold quickly ripped the man's hand off his head and stumbled away from him. He tried to stand up, but quickly fell onto the floor and proceeded to vomit. As he knelt before the man sobbing and gagging, the man walked up to him and knelt beside him. Harold looked to the man beside him with a look of anger and fear.

"Why…why her" Harold gasped at his guest before standing up to face him. The man stood up as well, still giving the same monotone expression as he did throughout the whole ordeal. The very thought that coursed in Harold's mind caused him to explode with rage as he charged at the man before him. As he threw a punch at his tormentor, the man simply avoided the attack and grasped Harold by the neck, bringing him closer to his face before giving him his answer.

"Because I am her god," The Master simply responded to a weak Harold. "She shall provide me what I seek as she always has." Harold watched in horror as the Master's jaw split open down the middle, opening up and revealing a set of tentacles, barbed sets of fangs and a large barbed tube-like tongue. The tentacles then wrapped around Harold's neck and entered his mouth, as soon as he was positioned well enough, Harold felt a sudden rush of horror and pain throughout his entire body, but he could not find the ability to scream. At this moment, he felt a sharp stab in his neck from the Master's large tongue that attached itself to Harold's neck. At this moment, Harold began to feel the pain and dread start to accelerate through his body and proceed to fade away as the Master continue feeding, feeling small jolts of agony every few moments. Eventually, this all passed and the Master's tongue detach from his neck and return to its jowls. Harold whimpered in pain as he felt the tentacles exit from his mouth, the ones on his neck grew tighter. As he looked at his captor, he glared right into his black shot eyes and his expression changed to a look of anger. He knew that this was his end and there was no escape from the Master's wrath. At this realization, he proceeded to spit onto the Master's face. Giving one final statement before he met his fate:

"Burn in hell you ugly son of a-"

*crack*

[*]

"Pearl, I'm home!" Steven shouted as he walked through the screen door and into the kitchen. Exhausted from working so much plus running all the way to the temple, Steven sat down at the counter and place his head down. As he sat there, he began to think about Connie, although the plan was perfect and it would allow her to have a better life. Something in Steven's mind was telling him that something was not right. His thoughts were quickly cast aside when he encountered an intoxicating aroma of cooked meat. He lifted his head to see Pearl approaching him, wearing a black apron with a plate in hand.

"Oh hello Steven." Pearl said in a calm collect voice as always, "How was work today? Did that Mr. Smiley fellow give you a hard time?"

Steven eyed the plate that carried a large juicy pork chop as Pearl placed it before him. The moment when Pearl handed Steven his special "Limited edition Dog-coptor spork," Steven began to chow down. Steven always though that Pearl was a great cook, especially when it came to pork chops. This one however, was quite peculiar.

"Working for Mr. Smiley is the best! Not only am I helping Connie and Mr. Smiley, but I am also having a great time." Steven then looked at one of the cubes of pork before he turned to face Pearl, who was sitting across the counter with backs of her hands holding up her head, smiling as she watched him eat. "Say Pearl, what kind of pork is this, it tastes funny."

"It's Veal," Pearl simply responded, "I made it from scratch."

Steven paused for a moment and then proceeded to eat more of the pork chop. He then noticed that the entire floors were coated with plastic sheets and the walls and furniture were covered in tarps. "Say Pearl, what is with all the sheets, is there something you painted in here?

"No Steven…." Pearl responded again. This time Steven was a little suspicious. As he finished half of the pork chop, he turned to Pearl again, who was still in the same position as before.

"So, did Connie talk to you about our child?" Steven asked

"Yes she did." Pearl replied, "Finish your meal."

"When are Garnet and Amethyst coming back?" Steven asked Pearl, who irritably replied "Soon…"

"What about Connie, when is she coming back from that session? Cause I need to talk to her about the whole issue with the baby. Then we have to go through a whole-"

"Steven?" Pearl said, interrupting the half-gem's monologue.

"Yeah Pearl?" Steven replied

"Just shut up!"

Steven froze; he did not expect to hear something like that from Pearl. At this moment, he knew something was wrong, and a gut feeling informed him that it had something to do with Connie.

"Pearl, where is Connie?" Steven asked anxiously "What did you do to her?"

Pearl stood up from where she was sitting and moved started to move over to the door. As she stood next to it, she turned and waved her hand across the knob. Upon hearing the click, Steven felt a jolt of fear enter his body. He soon realized what Pearl was doing.

"Before you say anything Steven, Connie is still alive and is still providing Vitae as we speak."

Steven remembered Pearl mentioning "Vitae" before, it was on the same day that she attacked Steven. He sat up from the counter and tried to move away from the counter, but then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. As he hunched over and knelt to the floor, Pearl moved closer to him. Looking at him with an expression of tranquility. Steven noticed her eyes becoming black shot, as if they were being filled with ink. He also noticed black tears streaming down from Pearl's eyes. Several drops hit the floor and burned right though the plastic sheets.

"But I guess you are wondering what about the baby?" Pearl asked Steven as she walked over to the counter where the half-finished pork chop sat. Pearl then grabbed the meat and brought it over to Steven, placing the slice in front of his face. "I will tell you what, if you finish this pork chop, I will tell you what happened to your child."

Steven looked at the pork chop, and then back to Pearl. As he was about to bite into the meat, he then remembered something pearl said:

"_It's Veal, I made it from scratch._"

Steven shuddered with horror at the realization as he shoved the "pork" aside. As he gagged and gasped in horror, Pearl frowned at Steven's behavior.

"This is quite rude you know? Pearl sighed, "I worked so hard to make you this special meal. Do you know how much blood, Vitae, and tears went into this meal?"

As Steven looked up at the Gem before him, he could not find the words to respond to Pearl's actions. Of all of the Crystal Gems, Pearl was the one he looked to as a mother and a caretaker. He was hoping this was all a dream, only to be reminded when Pearl slapped Steven across the face and pushed him onto his back. As she straddled on top of him, Pearl grabbed Steven's face and held his mouth open with one hand, while with the other held the large slab of "veal pork."

"You are not done her Steven!" Pearl exclaimed in an ecstatic manner "Eat everything that is on your plate! FINISH IT!" Pearl then proceeded to shove the pork right into Steven's mouth and down this thought. Steven gagged and coughed as he tried to shove Pearl away. Pearl began to laugh and hum as she continued to choke Steven. She then released Steven from her hold and moved away from him. Allowing the young Gem to sit up and vomit out the pork chop he was forced to eat. As Steven caught his breath, he noticed the black vomit on the floor. He then placed his hand on his mouth and saw there was blood on his hand. He turned to Pearl, who was looking at him with a look of innocence and curiosity.

"Why Pearl?" Steven asked his voice weak from the damage cause by the black bile. "Why have you done this?"

Pearl sighed as she began to walk towards her young victim. As she did, she waved her hand over her gem, revealing various black cracks and damage within its once perfect image, she also revealed to have large scars over the arms and a larger scar across her left eye. Pearl then summoned a small folding chair and sat down before the wounded Steven.

"Well it all started when I killed and butchered your mother, Rose Quartz. Oh that was a great time. Did you know that I killed her in the same way I am killing you?"

Steven was speechless, for his whole life, he was told his mother sacrificed herself for him. Now he is told that it was all a lie. Steven cringed from the pain, fresh tears poured down his face as Pearl continued to speak.

"Unfortunately, the Master disliked my actions, because of her involvement with your father; Rose's power was transplanted into you. Not to mention that because you were half-human, power you obtained could not be extracted properly until you turned 13. Until then I had to bide my time, blend in with the Gems and had to jump through hoop after hoop until I could find a chance to deal with you."

Steven was devastated. All the times he bonded with Pearl were lies. She had been manipulating him from the very beginning, all the times they laughed together, cried together, and fought together, have all been one big hoax.

"I had an opportunity to kill you during the Tribunal Ceremony, but then not only did you evade my actions, but you also managed to nearly blow my cover, which is why I used the whole "Obsidian Virus" idea, to prevent any suspicion. This did however; allow a small window of opportunity when Garnet found the ruins of the Crystal Empire. I simply tricked them into going to the temple, knowing that the trip would last for months. By the time, they would have gotten back. Everything would have gone off without a hitch."

"Obsidian Virus?" Steven replied weakly, Pearl then pulled out the letter Garnet left for the young Gem and tossed it to him. Steven read at the letter and the back at Pearl. "How could you do this to them, especially Garnet?" Steven tried to sit up and he pointed his right arm towards Pearl, "Garnet liked you, she had feeling for you, and you used that fo-" before Steven could finish, he hear a loud slash followed by a section of his forearm burning, he then felt the lower half of his arm burn as the whole section slid off. Steven shrieked as he held his bloody stump. Pearl ignored his cries for a few seconds before she became annoyed and promptly walked up to the wounded gem and kicked him in the face. Steven then felt Pearl place a pointed object at Steven's lower back and push it into his lower back. Steven screamed as he felt the sharp object pierce his flesh. Pearl then proceeded to return to her chair and sit back down.

"As I was saying, everything would have gone off without a hitch, but there was one thing that I did not anticipate or expect: Connie and her child." Steven looked up at Pearl again, his expression now of anger, bearing his teeth, a few broken and missing from Pearl's kick. "I never expected that you would have knocked her up. It was because of her involvement with you that she had to die. The child you created had a portion of your Gem power; I could not let that happen. Therefore, I simply took back what was rightfully ours. Your father almost found out, but that proved to be of no challenge and was quite the treat."

As Pearl stood up and moved closer to Steven, she noticed his expression of anger quickly turn back into agony when she knelt to face him. She then traced her finger across Steven's throat, As Steven tried to speak, he found out that he could only make shouts and bleats, like an animal for slaughter. Pearl simply smiled in response to his incoherent cries and kissed him on the forehead before she placed her hand onto the floor and summoned a large toolbox. From the toolbox, she pulled out a large hacksaw. As she showed it to the fearful Steven, who wet himself in response, her smile turned into a large grin, black tears were pouring from her eyes, black bile trickling from her mouth.

"You know what I have been wondering for some time now Steven, why do they call this tool a hacksaw when it does not hack?" Pearl mentioned to the young Gem, terrified at the intentions with the hacksaw. "Hacking is what one would do with a knife or an ax. However, this is a saw; it is meant to saw through things. I do not understand where you humans come up with such pointless endeavors.

As Steven tried to move, Pearl sat on top of him again, grabbing one of his squirming legs. Steven tried to call for help, but it was of no use, he made loud noises in an attempt to call for help, but they were incoherent to the basic ear. As Steven found no real, reason to scream anymore, that soon changed when he felt the sharp hacksaw begin to cut through his leg.

"_When the moon is full…_" Pearl cut through each joint of his foot and then his leg, ignoring the squealing from Steven as she worked on the next one.

"…_and I've pried…_" As Pearl cut through the flesh, Steven's leg was moving around too much, Pearl then simply broke off the leg at the bone and tore the whole thing off before moving onto the left arm.

"…_I'll take up you guts…_" Pearl sliced of each joint of Steven's fingers, then the joints of his hand, then his forearm, and finally, his shoulder.

"…_to the little shed outside…_" Having already cut off his right forearm, Pearl simply cut the remains of the upper arm and shoulder off. Pearl then summoned a large trunk where she took all of Steven's limbs and put them into the trunk. She then lifted Steven off the floor and onto the counter, where she cut off his cloths and cast them onto the bloody floor.

"…_I'll pretend that I'm blind in one eye__and I'll hide it in you__…_" Pearl then grabbed hold of Steven's "Jewels" and slowly cut them off, one by one. Steven gurgled as blood pours from his mouth, had it not been for that object Pearl planted in Steven, he would have been dead long ago. As soon as Pearl finished with the castration, she summoned a large scalpel and sliced open Steven's ribcage, plucking out the majority of his organs, save for his heart and lungs. She also plucked out his Gem, which she placed into the plate that carried the Gem baby pork chop. Upon completion, she turned to face Steven as she placed the teeth of the hacksaw onto his neck. Steven gurgled in response to Pearl's actions.

"_It's like your head is crumbled__and hiding in you._" Each slice of the saw cause Steven to gurgle and make noises of suffering as Pearl then began to drag the saw back and forth and back and forth and back and forth all while saying "I forgive you" over and over until…

*thud*

Pearl stopped when she heard the sound of Steven's head hitting the floor as she picked it up and looked into the dead eyes of the young Gem, she began to softly giggle, this turned into loud laughter which escalated into a blood curdling hysteria. She then raised the head up above her as blood dripped down from the head onto her face.

"I DID IT MASTER!" Pearl shrieked to the heavens above, "I FIXED MY MISTAKE, STEVEN IS DEAD, NOW THE POWER OF ROSE IS FINALLY-" As she turned to where she planted the gem, she saw it was missing, Pearl expression changed to shock as she dropped Steven's head.

"Where is it?" Pearl looked all over the counter, knocking Steven's disemboweled torso onto the floor with a bloody thud, "Where is the Gem? WHERE IS THE GEM?"

Suddenly something caught Pearl's eye, right next to the counter and Steven's cast aside body, were a pair of burnt track. They looked like animal tracks…

Particularly a lion's tracks.

[*]

Numb, that is what Connie Maheswaran was feeling, it had been ages since her interaction with Pearl, and there she was, chained to a large stone slab with her stomach ripped open. Connie was not sure how she survived, but she wished it were all over and this nightmare would just end.

Suddenly, she heard the door open as she saw a shadow of a figure begin to enter the room. At first, Connie was hoping that it was Steven, but her thoughts faded when she saw the abomination before her. What had entered the room was a large flesh doll. The same one that Greg was tasked to build. Now that its purpose was finished, it was searching for new subject to torture, such as Connie. As Connie tried to move, she had no energy to move let alone speak as he creature shrieked at her. She was building up enough strength to say one thing to the abomination.

"…d..do…your..wo…worst…"

Just as it lifted its claw to begin its work, there was a large flash of light a huge flame inside the room. Out from the flame pounced Lion, who tackled the flesh abomination and ripped its head off. As he spat out the head, he turn towards the table where Pearl left her tools and the Gem from Connie's baby. Lion then spat out Steven's Gem and moved it next to the other Gem, which resulted in the two fusing together. As Lion swallowed the Rose Gem, Connie noticed the large bloody wound in Lion's body.

"..li…lion…" Connie weakly begged to lion, "hel…help…"

Lion simply moved over to Connie and bit off her restraints. He then sat down and placed his head next to Connie. With the last of her strength, Connie lifted her hand and placed it on lion's face. Just as she did, Lion's eyes lit up and he began to rise into the air. As Connie watched the light in awe, the light spoke to her in a woman's voice.

"_Qui dolorem hostiam acceptam, sumes de pallio multæ misericordiæ Vicus Rose toga traditaeque fili leo Vicus cordis tui. Utor hac potestate prohibere frater de Obsidian adamas, et pacem in mundo, In hac habitasse destinty Connie Patel, Fath multa mihi in vobis._"

The next thing Connie knew, she was fully healed and fully clothed upon the stone table, as she sat up and looked around, and she saw that Lion and the light around her were gone. As she looked down at her body, she saw no scars or wounds, not even a cut across her stomach, But there was something there instead. Connie was shocked at the realization of what had just happened, however, not before realizing that this meant that Steven was…

As Connie eyes welled up with tears, she suddenly felt a spark in mind and she began to see what appeared to be memories. She saw the moments when Steven first met Connie and they were trapped in a rose Bubble, when they fought agents a Robot, when Steven met Connie's Parents, and when Steven helped Connie though a snowstorm, It all lead up to when they went out on the date that changed their lives. As she smiled at the memories, she then saw the memory of when Steven met with Connie's parents and how he was determined to give Connie a better life. The most interesting thing about this memory was that the way that Steven was talking, it almost seemed like he was saying it directly to her. As the memories faded away, Connie looked at the bracelet that Steven found for her. As she touched it, she smiled and then placed her hands around the Gem attached to her belly. Knowing that Steven would give up his Gem powers so Connie could live.

As she turned towards the door, she was stopped by the sudden appearance of lion, fully healed and much smaller than before, he grunted at her to get on his back.

"Okay lion." Connie said skeptical, concerned about lion's intentions, "Just where are we going now?"

Lion simply let out a roar as they both shot through the portal. As it closed, Pearl quickly rushed in, only to see the two teleport away with Rose's Power. This meant that once again, the power was lost and all of Pearl's work was for nothing. Upon the realization of what had happened, Pearl whimpered as placed her hand onto her head and dragged them down, slicing through her face. She then let out a howling shriek that could be heard and felt felt throughout the entirety of the temple.


	9. The Diamond

Original Idea by: Scraps

Collaboration work with: Shortsista

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 9: The Diamond, the Pearl, and the Rose Quartz

[*]

**The Crystal Temple exterior, 12 years ago**

It was a warm day at the temple, the sun was shining, and there was a calm breeze in the air. The sound of the ocean waves on the beach was quite relaxing, especially for the Crystal Gems. Garnet was soaking up the sun's rays while Pearl read a book quietly next to her. All the while, a young half-gen toddler by the name of Steven played with the wet sand in an attempt to create a sand castle. As the hours went by, Garnet looked up from her slumber to check up on Steven, Pearl automatically closed her book, making sure that her fellow Gem did not see what was within.

"Pearl," Garnet asked with a yawn, "Have you seen Amethyst?"

" Oh you know Amethyst" the long nosed gems sighed in irritation at the mere mention of the nuisance she called a "Gem Sister" "She probably is doing something that is either, idiotic, annoying, or both. But as long as we keep away from here, nothing can go wrong."

Just then, as the two Gems and looked to the ocean beside them, there expression turned from curiosity into gaped horror at the large roaring title wave heading straight towards them. Both of the Gems could see a short purple impish figure riding a surfboard that appeared to have been formed from her feet. This was Amethyst, the most unstable and impulsive of the Gems, who was now approaching the gems with a tsunami in tow.

"INCOMING!" Screamed the thick-lipped Gem as her wave towered over the beach, "Here comes the Super Delux Amethyst…uh…splash…err..Thing!"

Steven cooed and giggled at the looming water wall that was closing in on him. Within an instant, Garnet stood before the wave and summoned her Gauntlets. Within moments, she then pulled her hand back and struck the wave with a open palm, causing the titanic wall of water to collapse and sink into the ocean, dragging Amethyst with it. As Garnet tended to a guffawing Steven, Pearl stormed over to the water and dragged a large purple fish out to the beach, which transformed into a laughing purple Gem.

"Oh my God, you should have seen your faces! Especially yours Pearl!" Amethyst gasped between laughs, "Man, I should have brought a camera."

"Amethyst, that was just completely reckless! You could have hurt Steven!" Pearl said to Amethyst in a stern matter, "Just what were you thinking? Now that Rose is gone we need to protect Steven and raise him. Do you know anything about caring for a child?"

"Chill out Pearl, You know that just because we are known as sister does not bean we come from the same planet." Amethyst Said as she rested her back on the warm sand, "Back at Kindergarten, we would do shit like that all of the time to a newbe, and if they got hurt, they would walk it off. I mean, that is what they did to me did and look, I turned out fine."  
Pearl clenched her hands as she let out an irritated sigh, Amethyst always knew how to get under Pearl's skin, but what she just said just stuck to her, what she just said reminded her of something when always kept to herself.

Pearl then turned to Garnet, who was just placing Steven into his stroller. Garnet then looked up to Pearl, who gestured to Amethyst as if to tell her that Pearl was right. Garnet just shrugged, a usual response to something she was indifferent to.

"Amethyst was doing nothing wrong Pearl, Steven was alright and that is what matters."  
Pearl scoffed, "Well, do you think that an off world tradition is fair to Steven?"

"Pearl, you must remember that Steven is one of the first _Natum_ Gems since the tribunal; we are all new to raising a child and we are trying to understand the process. That is the reason why Amethyst was doing what her father did." Garnet replied as she placed a hand on Pearl's shoulder, "On the Homeworld, Master Diamond taught me how to fight the day I joined his ranks, just as Rose did for Amethyst."

Just then, Pearl pushed away from Garnet and gave a look of distress. Amethyst noticed this and let out a large grin of cheekiness. As Pearl began to collect her composure, Amethyst slithered behind her and gave a smile in a style similar to a yellow sea sponge.  
"What about you Pearl, what did your daddy do to you?"

Pearl quickly turned around and gave a look of disgust, "Nothing, he did nothing!" she replied as she pushed the purple Gem away from her. As she did, Amethyst began to skip in a circle around Pearl, singing a small tune to tease her long-nosed friend.

"Ohhhh! Pearl doesn't like her daddy! Pearl doesn't like her daddy! Pearl doesn't like her daddy!"

"Amethyst, stop this right now! My relationship with family is none your business!" Pearl shouted, but her orders were feeble and in vain as the Gem continued her teasing.

"Come on Pearl, so what if you and your dad don't get along? Don't be so much of a prude and let it out!" Amethyst shouted before she continued her teasing.

"Amethyst please, stop this instant and leave me alone!" Garnet could see that Pearl was getting visibly upset, but she knew that it would be best if she and Amethyst figured it out on their own.

"Why? Are you afraid your dads going to find out that you are not a perfect Gem as you say you are?"

"My relationships with my family are none of your concern."

"Oh please! If you've got a daddy issue, let me get you a daddy tissue!"

Pearl clenched her hands as her face turned a bright blue, "You don't know anything about my father..."

"Let me guess: Was he a snobby neglecting type or the strict "Dick"-tator type?" Amethyst turned into an image of Pearl but with a moustache and a monocle, "Pearl, you are grounded for no reason. Go to your room and finish your homework. There will be no space-tea and space-crumpets for you young woman! And no lip unless you want the belt"

Amethyst turned back and fell to the ground in laughter. Only to be stopped by the sensation of a spear smacking her across the face. As the Gem rose up and began to heal the cut on her cheek, she looked up at Pearl, who was looming over her with a look of anger on her face and a spear trembling in her hand. Amethyst then noticed the tears welling up in her eyes and pouring down her face. Garnet, who was watching the whole scene in surprise, noticed that these tears were not black, but clear.

"Hey, chill out Pearl," Amethyst said as she stood up with her arms up in a defensive position, "So what if your dad was a jerk to you, I was just kid-"

"HE DIDN'T JUST ABUSE ME AMETHYST! HE DID THINGS TO ME!"

Both Garnet and Amethyst where speechless, not once did they suspect something like this would come from Pearl. The two Gems did not know what to say or what to think. Pearl then dissipated her spear and knelt onto the sand beneath her.

"He…he did things to me…it makes me sick!" Pearl sobbed to Amethyst as she clenched the sand between her hands. "Are you happy now Amethyst! Well, ARE YOU?

As she rose up to, she felt a hand touch her shoulder as she looked up to see Amethyst before her, as the purple Gem gave her friend a large hug, Pearl then felt another Gem join in to support her Gem sister. As Pearl looked at both of her Gem sisters, a mixed feeling of comfort and guilt washed over her as she sunk her face into Amethyst's  
shoulder, bawling as hard as possible, knowing that what she had to do would cost her relationship with these gems who care so much about her.

As the two Gems comforted their comrade on the calm beach, Steven lay within his crib, asleep and quite, not knowing that at that moment, a large figure was looming over his soft body, looking down at the very creature that had put a wrench in his plans.

"So this is my Sister's child, the one who carries all of her powers thanks to Vestibulum's incompetence?"

Steven awoke and cooed at the tall Gem before him, only to be given a look of disgust and irritation in response,

"You are nothing more than an abomination and a thief that should not even be alive."

Diamond reached down and placed his hand in front of Steven's face. The infant Gem grabbed the Gem Master's fingers and smiled at the Gem Master before him.

"However, you still need time to grow before your Vitae become perfect for extraction; nevertheless I am certain that Vestibulum will make sure that you will be ready in no time."

The Master then looked up to the three Gems and gave an expression of amusement as he saw Pearl embracing her Gem sisters in the sandy beach. The sight of Pearl behavior caused him to feel a sudden rush of anger, which he quickly controlled as he turned his attention back to the infant besides him.

"Do you know what I find most amusing but at the same time tragic about loyalty?"

The Master said to Steven as he sat down beside Steven,

"I find that if the servant is broken just right, they will do whatever you say regardless of their own opinion or moral believe, like a machine without a will. However, to make such a servant requires the right subject at the right opportunity and even after that, proper requirements and actions must be met in order for the servant be broken into absolute loyalty…"

"…and what better choice of an obedient servant then one conceived from your own blood?"

The Master then stood up and began to walk back to the temple, but not before turning back to his oblivious nephew.

"Of course, if my daughter proves to be as obedient as I expect her to be. But do not worry; you shall find out soon enough, won't you child?"

and with that, the Master was gone, leaving behind a child who had no idea what was in store for him and what fate he would soon experience.

"Pearl!" Amethyst shouted as she and Garnet returned to the temple, "Come on! Grab Steven and get that curved butt in gear." Garnet sighed in response, seemingly flustered by the thought.

As Pearl walked to the temple with Steven in hand, she looked up at the temple and saw a large being on one of the cliffs. She watched as he slowly shook his head in disappointment as he entered the wall behind him. Pearl cringed at the sight, knowing that her master expected better from her, and that she would have to make the sacrifice to ensure the plan's success. As of now however, she looked down at cooing Steven and hugged him tightly. As tears of obsidian rolled down her cheeks, she whispered to the infant as he clung to her chest.

"I do not know if you can hear me though him Rose, but I hope that you now understand what I have to do and I hope that you can forgive me for what I must do."

As she tucked the child into his crib, she placed her necklace onto a wall and hesitated before she summoned a portal before her. As she felt cold stale air blow before her, she took a deep breath as she stepped inside.


	10. The Guardian

Original Idea by: Scraps

Collaboration work with: Shortsista

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 10: I, Guardian

Tribunal Temple, Present Day

Suglite had always found fighting to be quite an amazing sensation. As she fought against the mass amounts of Hologems, the energy within her began to grow. As savage as she seemed, she found a sense of elegance with killing these false Gems. As the last Hologem shattered under her large fist, the fusion of the solemn Garnet and wild Amethyst let out a bloodthirsty roar into the heavens.

"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING HOLOGEM JERKS" The Gem fusion screamed, "WHEN YOU FUCK WITH SUGLITE! YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE THE FIGHT! REMEMBER THAT THE NEXT TIME YOU SHOW YOU'RE UGLY MUGS!"

As soon as she finished, Suglite began to glow and warp before she transformed back into the two Gems she was formed from. The two Gems, exhausted from the fighting, recomposed themselves quite quickly, with Amethyst cheering at their victory.

"Aw yeah!" Amethyst cheered out, "That was so awesome! We were like "DIE JACKASS!" and they were like…uh…kressh or whatever sound Hologems make. We should make some more to take home, right Garnet?...Garnet?"

The pudgy gem looked to her Gem sister, who was sitting on the ground with the Journal in her hand. Earlier, the two Gems came to the temple to find a cure for the "Obsidian Virus" that Pearl had contracted. However, what Garnet found was much more disturbing. As she read the book with tears in her eyes, she repeated the same set of pages repeatedly:

_To my Gem Sibling Topaz,_

_If you are reading this then I have already won our war and I will be coming for you. Please understand that what I have done was for the greater good of the Universe. However, for now, I believe you deserve a explanation for myself._

_For as long as we have been living, we have always been a tribunal, instructed by our mother to protect the Universe and keep the balance in line. Over time however, you and Rose began to develop your own ideals for protecting the Universe. You wanted to involve the Gems with issues only involving the Gems while Rose wanted to help the entirety of the Universe. I however, have seen the truth that the both of you could not see. After the defeat of Tiberium, I came to realized that the true enemy of this universe…was free will. Free will, if not controlled, will lead to chaos that has created wars that have destroyed entire planets. Free will that breeds hate and obsession into the minds of the lesser. I realized that the same ideals that infected the lesser being of the Universe were affecting the Gems as well and thus, I realized that there was only one clear solution to this madness: all of those with free will would have to be extinguished or reconditioned in order to save the Universe from itself._

_After many years of planning, I realized that in order to establish full control of the Universe and purge it of evil, I would need to obtain the essence of the Crystal Mother. To do this, I would have to absorb the very vitae from you and Rose since we were created from her very Vitae. I only wish I knew this before I became ...savage towards Rose. In hindsight, her rape would have been the perfect opportunity to extract what I needed. Nevertheless, I have already begun my plan as we speak and such a mistake will be quickly corrected._

_During my time on my Gem colony of Insidiae, I acquired the Metalian Intelligence and with her help, we discovered that we could use the three essences, Vitae from the Crystal Gems, Humor from the Metalians, and Ichor from the Obsidian Levithan, for two purposes: The first purpose was to create a new army. After the war with Tiberium, I have used Vitae and Humor from the Metalians to create a new breed of soldiers that I have coined "Agates." With an army of Agates, each powered by a Gem core, I shall be able to assure my control over the entirety of the Universe._

_The second purpose of the use of these essences was to continue create efficient servants. In order to accomplish certain tasks, I would need a servant who would follow my orders and, unlike an Agate, could follow them with an organic touch. Thus, like what you have done with Emerald and Lapis, I was able to create a Secundo from fraction of my essence, a Secundo you may know by the name of Onyx, who I instructed to abduct Gems under the guise of a rogue Gem. By modifying a extracted portion of her Vitae and mine with Ichor, I have created what I assumed to be an more efficient servant and a new weapon for the Diamond Authority. However, from the rapid tests I have conducted on her, the servant's wild behavior and rejection to the Ichor has been a growing setback, and I assume this will eventually result in her becoming a defective servant. Despite this, I have decided to use her essence to conceive a new Secundo. With the use of my new servant and a army of Agate drones, I shall soon have enough power to restore the Universe to pure order. Soon the corruption of free will shall be extinguished and in its place, unending peace and order. So says Master Diamond, once the leader of the defective Crystal Tribunal, now the leader of the Diamond Authority, and soon, the Universe._

_I hope that by the time you read this, you will have decided to accept your fate and will surrender peacefully. If not, then be prepared to embrace the fury of true order._

_Signed,_

_Master Diamond_

Garnet gritted her teeth as she read the last sentence of the letter. She then turned to the Purple Gem next to her, who was welling up with horror and betrayal at what she had just learned. As Amethyst stood up and walked away, Garnet dropped the book and slammed her fists onto the ground before her. She continued to bash the earth repeatedly, leaving large craters in the ground before her. As she prepared to strike her fist again, she felt a pair of hands grab her arm. Garnet turned to see Amethyst, tears in her eyes as she hugged her tall sister. Garnet without a word grabbed Amethyst with her bloody hand and wept as she hugged tighter. The very thought that not only was the virus nonexistent, but the very thought that the high-master of the Crystal Gems was a traitor and that he was responsible for the near extinction of the Crystal Gems, the death of Rose, and especially the realization that he was responsible for Pearl's actions.

Just then, the sound of thunder caught their attention as a large white object crashed before the two Gems, as Garnet and Amethyst jumped back and activated their weapons, a large figure rose out of the new crater. The being was tall and was grey with silver armor. It also had a triangular shaped head with a single glowing eye. The being moved out of the crater before it spoke to the Gems before it.

"[AGATE MODEL 3.23 ONLINE…SYSTEMS: ACTIVE…..WEAPONS: ONLINE…PRIMARY MISSION: LOCATE AND APPREHEND ROGUE GEMS…SECONDARY MISSION: AQUIRE VITAE ….MISSION STATUS: VITAE LOCATED]"

"What the hell is that thing?" Amethyst said to Garnet, "Is that one of those "Agay" drones Diamond said he made?"

The Nephrite turned to Amethyst, it's eye let out a blue waved as it traced down the Gem, as the laser touched her Gem, the color changed to red and the laser retracted.

"[GEM IDENTIFIED….IDENTIFICATION: AMETHYST…..CLASSIFICATION: PERTURBATIO…..GEM TYPE: ASCITUS….WEAPON TYPE: WHIP….THREAT LEVEL: MINOR]"

"Minor...MINOR?" Amethyst lifted her whip to the robot, "I'LL SHOW YOU MINOR!"

As she swung her whip at the Agate, it caught her whip with its arm. As Amethyst tried to pull, the drone's arm glowed white and it let out a large shock, electrocuting Amethyst and knocking her to the ground.

"AMETHYST!" Garnet shouted as she ran to her Gem sister, only to be blocked by the Agate, who scanned her as well. As Garnet tried to punch the robot. The drone avoided the attack and punched her back, sending the winded gem onto the ground. As she rose up, she looked to the unconscious Amethyst and then to the Agate Drone as it moved towards her.

"[GEM IDENTIFIED…IDENTIFICATION: GARNET….CLASSIFICATION: PRAESENTIA….GEM TYPE: PERTURBATIO…WEAPON TYPE: GAUNTLETS…THREAT LEVEL: MAJOR]"

As Garnet jumped up and attempted to punch the Agate again, the robot grabbed her fist and clenched tightly, breaking the gauntlet and creating an audible set of cracks. Garnet screamed as she knelt from the force. As she looked up at the Agate, it looked down at her without any expression of mercy or remorse, just the type of solder Diamond intended it to be.

"[GEM ANALYSIS COMPLETED…CONCLUSION: GEMS ARE CHARGED WITH TREASON TO THE CRYSTAL GUARDIANS…ACTION: COMPLETE TERMINATION AND SUBJUGATION OF VITAE]"

Garnet lowered her head as she prepared to accept her fate at the hands of the robot. Fresh tears in her eyes fell down her face as she heard the Agate charging it's weapons, preparing to strike her down. In her mind she thought about Pearl, the Gem she had always though, despite her behavior and intentions, to be a close friend, that through their time together, she had developed feelings for the long-nosed Gem. She remembered the time when Pearl confessed about her father, and embraced the support of her "sisters." In the back of Garnet's mind, she had hoped that what was happening was just a dream and she would wake up every second. Upon hearing the Nephrite charge rising, that idea had faded away.

It was not soon, after did she hear the sound of a lion's roar and felt the arm of the Agate release her.

As Garnet looked up in confusion, she saw before her was Lion, and on top of lion was a girl. It was Connie, and she wearing robes much like Rose's robes, in her hands were a large sword and Steven's shield, as Garnet stared in confusion. She then saw the Agate drone rising off the ground and standing back up, scanning the two beings that attacked her.

"[NEW GEM IDENTIFIED…IDENTIFICATION: ERROR….CLASSIFICATION: ERROR….GEM TYPE: ERROR….WEAPON TYPE: SWORD AND SHIELD…THREAT LEVEL: ERROR...ACTIVATING EMERGENCY DEFENSE PROTOCOL.]"

As Connie jumped of Lion and charged at the Nephrite, the robot tried to defend itself, only to be slashed and cut by Connie's sword. Garnet watched with complete shock, she then regained her composure and went over to Amethyst to see if she was okay. As she checked on her Gem sister, she looked back in confusion. How did a human acquire Gem weapons, especially Steven's Shield? Unless…

Just then, she heard a large slash as she saw a large metal arm fall hear her. She looked to see Connie before the Agate, its arm cut off and leaking green fluid. The drone then began to speak, its voice now frizzled and damaged from the fighting.

[ERROR…I-I-IDENTITY NOT FOU-FOUND…DEFE-E-E-NCES: OBSOLETE…W-W-WEAPON SYS-SYS-STEMS: FAILIN-N-N-NG…CORE SYS-SYSTEMS: FAILING-G-G-G…ACTIV-V-VATING-NG FAIL-LSAFE MAN-MANEUVER.]"

The Agate's eye began to blink loudly as its body started to glow a bright orange. Connie then dove back next to Garnet and Amethyst, with lion next to her, Connie was able to create a bubble that could withstand the detonation of the Nephrite. The explosion was massive; it felt as if they were watching a warhead go off. As soon as the fire show was over and the smoke cleared, Connie deactivated the shield and then turned to Garnet. The tall Gem looked in shock to see the young girl before her with a rose quartz on her stomach, just like Stevens.

"Connie…?" Garnet whispered in shock, "What is going on?"

"Huh?" Amethyst grunted as she rose off the ground, she then look around at the wreckage, then to Garnet, and then to Connie and Lion, "Okay, either someone has to explain what has happened, or that expired burrito did more damage than I thought it did."

Connie then proceeded to explain what had happened since the two Gem left. She explained how Steven got her pregnant and that Pearl captured her, extracted her baby, not to mention that she also attempted to kill Lion, and slaughtered Greg. As she finished her explanation, Garnet and Amethyst were speechless, until Amethyst began to shout at Garnet.

"FIVE MONTHS?" WE HAVE BEEN GOVE FOR FIVE FUCKING MONTHS?" The Gem screamed as she rose up and started to pace.

"Connie?" Garnet responded in her normal composure, "Where is Steven? Is he safe?"  
Connie looked down at her feet, Garnet could see by her expression that the answer was not going to be a good one.

"I'm sorry Garnet…I wanted to save him, but-"

Connie was interrupted by Garnet placing her hand of the new Gem's shoulder. Connie looked up at the Gem with tear-filled eyes and she hugged Garnet and cried loudly. As Garnet place her hands around Connie, she then felt something strange. She heard a voice, it sounded like a child's, a young girls voice, as Garnet tried to find the source of the voice, she herd it speak to her.

"It's nice to meet you Aunt Garnet! I cannot wait to see you and Aunt Amethyst when I am born. But could you please don't tell mommy about me yet?"

With fresh tears pouring from her eyes, Garnet realized that what she saw was a vision of the future; it had been years since her last one. So many years that she had almost forgotten about them. She then realized that when Connie was healed with Steven's Gem, it not only restored her Vitae…

…It restored the baby's Vitae as well.

Garnet then took a deep breath and waved her hand, as she did, a portal opened. The three Gems and Lion then looked at each other, prepared for what needs to be done. Lion growled as he lifted Connie onto his back she then looked to Garnet with a expression of regret. Garnet nodded as she, Amethyst and then Lion with Connie, enter the portal back to the Temple. To deal with whatever horrors await them on the other side.  
As the portal closed, deep in the wreckage, the surviving head of the Agate remained intact. As the drone's eye lit up, it began to send a message.

"[SYSTEM REBOOT: ONLINE…DAMAGE REPORT: FULL SYSTEM FAILURE...AUTO REPAIR: ENGAGED…ESTIMATED COMPETITION OF AUTO REPAIR: 11 MONTHS, 47.8293 WEEKS, 334.805 DAYS, 8035.33 HOURS, 482120 MINUTES, 2.893 e + 7 SECONDS, 2.893 e + 10 MILLISECONDS, 2.893 e + 13 MICROSECONDS, 2.893 e + 16 NANOSECONDS…DISTRESS SIGNAL: ENGAGED…TERTIARY MISSION PROTOCOL: ENGAGED…. TERTIARY MISSION: SENDING INPUT OF ACTIONS TO MASTER DIAMOND….INPUT MESSAGE: SENT…ENGAGING CORE SHUTDOWN AS PER INITIATIVE …4…9…1…12…0…13…4 …I DIE SO THAT THE UNIVERSE MAY BE RESTORED…*]"


	11. The Room

Original Idea by: Scraps

Collaboration work with: Shortsista

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 12: The Girl with the Rose Colored Gem

[*]

**Crystal Temple, 2 Weeks ago**

Five months had passed since the big date Steven had with Connie. He was concerned that it had something to do with the "experience" he had on the bottom of the sea. Although he had seen Connie now and again, she seemed different from before. She was wearing more concealing clothing and she seemed more distant than before. Her strange behavior was making Steven very upset. He wanted to tell someone, but Garnet and Amethyst had apparently left to do something important, despite the fact that he could not find a note on where they were or what they were doing. At least Pearl was there to help he young gem in his time of depression. However, what Steven did not realize was that Pearl was changing. Her gem seemed to be dimmer and slightly cracked; her hair had dark grey strands in it, her blue eyes now had a small blend of black in them, like a shadow in a clear blue pond, and she looked thinner than usual. One night, after a failed attempted to talk to Connie involving a small confronting with Connie's father, Steven was on his bed sulking when Peal came by to comfort him.

"Hey Pearl…" Steven groaned before slamming his face into his pillow.

"Steven," said Pearl, who pulled Seven up from the bed and placed his head into her lap. "Are you still upset about that date with Connie?"

" I just don't know what I did wrong!" Steven said with tears in his eyes, "I wanted this date to be perfect but now I feel like a screw-up. What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? Something I did. I feel like such a failure."

The long nosed gem looked down at the crying boy in her lap, then she at him up and hugged him tight, pressing his head against her chest and rocking him slowly. Don't worry Steven;" she said to him in a soothing voice, "Everyone makes mistakes now and then, what matters are that you learn from them."

Steven looked up at Pearl, the lights of hope returning to his eyes. "What about the bigger mistakes like the Sea Spire, the mistake that cannot be fixed?" He was expecting a lecture of exceptions and experience but instead he felt Pearl's hands on his face on is as she kissed him on the forehead. This was followed by a simple response from Pearl that gave Steven a strange feeling of reissuance and discomfort:

"I will always forgive you."

Steven quickly slumped back into his bed as Pearl tucked him in, gave him a special sleeping mask, and gave him a kiss good night. Steven was happy to know that he still had a chance of making amends with Connie.

[*]

That night, as Steven was asleep, Pearl sat at the dinner table, her hands placed over her mouth and her eyes closed, as if she was waiting for something….or someone. Just then, she felt the sting of obsidian tears roll down her face. As she wiped a few from her eyes, she felt the air grow cold and stale, the pitch black darkness was a clear sign that he had arrived. Pearl then felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders, the hands, firm and cold, confirmed Pearl's fear and she knew why he was here.

"Please…" Pearl whispered in fear, as if speaking would anger the being behind her, "I don't want to do this anymore. I never wanted to do this."

She felt the figure bend down until his mouth was right next to Pearl's ear. The voice she heard made her blood run cold and a new flood of tears to flow from her eyes. It was the voice of a being known by many names. To some Gems: "Master Diamond," To others: "The Old King," but to Pearl, she knew him by one title:

"Father"

"The decision is not yours to make Vestibulum." Diamond hissed, his hands dug into Pearl's shoulders, causing blue blood to trickle between his hands, "You will do as I say because that is your purpose. You are a tool, an instrument conceived to do, as I demand, nothing more. Your mother's failure is the only reason why you breathe life."

Pearl took a deep breath before she replied, choosing her words carefully and logically. She knew that upsetting Diamond would lead to horrific consequences. She knew, from the day she first drew breath that he would show no mercy to her. Just like her mother.

"Have you applied the sleeping mask?" Diamond asked as his grip softened.

"Yes…he will not see it coming…" Pearl replied softly, "There has to be another way Master, why does Steven have to die?" The Gem Rose up from her seat and stood up to her Master.

"First you are angry at me for killing Rose, and now you DO want me to kill Stev-"

Within an instant, she felt one of Diamond's hands move to the back of her head and push with full force, smashing her face against the table, as he lifted he head and looked into her bloody face, he gave a scowl and he smashed her face into the table again, and again, and again. As he slammed her face onto the table once more, he waved his hands and summoned a large knife, which he plunged into Pearl's left hand. As Pearl screamed in pain, Diamond smashed her head into the table again, turning the shrieks into whimpers. The Master then summoned another knife before he began speaking to the servant before him.

"You continue to forget that you brought this on yourself." Diamond said in a stern voice as he bent down to Pearl, "if you had done what I asked and had not killed my sister, then there would be another way. You desired blood and now you will pay the price."

As soon as he finished, Diamond then plunged the second knife into Pearl's right hand, this time Pearl gritted as she felt blood flow from her hands. She then felt Diamond kick Pearl's chair away, forcing her to stand up while pinned to the table. As she did, she felt Diamond's hands slowly trace down her back. Pearl, knowing what Diamond was about to do, tried to struggle free, only to have Diamond slam her head down onto the table yet again, this time, he held her down by the neck.

"Master wait…stop!" Pearl tearfully begged as she felt her leggings being torn in the center, "I'LL BE GOOD! I WILL OBEY! I WILL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! I WILL BE YOUR LOYAL SERVANT! HAVE MERCY MASTER PLEASE! NO MASTER!"

"I know you will." Diamond hissed as he untraveled his cloak and positioned himself. Pearl could feel Diamond pressing up against her and then…

…penetration.

Pearl screamed and gasped with each thrust. To her, it felt as if she was being stabbed with a white hot metal rod repeatedly. She felt as Diamond's hands ripping off her tunic and digging into her back and breast, she felt the obsidian tears roll down her face; she felt the master's cold breath on the back of her neck. Pearl tried to shut her eyes, only for Diamond to force her to look by slamming her head into the table.

It felt like hours before Diamond released his essence within her. Pearl, exhausted from his actions, felt her legs give out and her body kneel onto the floor, she then felt Diamond remove the knifes from her hands as she fell onto the floor. As she looked onto her body, covered in sweat, bloody cuts, she looked where he stabbed her, and then she looked at where he "Stabbed" her. As she looked up at Diamond, she saw something that trembled with fear. She then felt his hand grab her by the top of her head, pulling her closer and closer to him. Pearl clamped her mouth shut, but it was no use as Diamond pulled on her head, causing her to scream and allowing him to shove it into her. He screams and cries were muffled by Diamond sliding down her throat. Pearl tried to pull away, but Diamond grip was too tight and his strength easily overpowered the Gem. Pearl felt Diamond place both of his hands on the sides of Pearls head, allowing him to control the movements much easier. After what seemed like ages, Pearl felt the inside of her mouth becoming warmer and the thrusts becoming faster. She knew what was happening and she tried to pull away, only to be yanked back even harder.

"Your resistance is only making your sentence harder." Diamond said with a stern tone, "Dont forget that you brought this on yourself."

With that, he gave one final thrust, shooting his essence down Pearl's throat, and filling her mouth. As soon as he pulled out, he quickly bent down and clamped his hand over Pearl's mouth. As the Gem tried to pull his hand away, she looked into the eyes of her master, the red eyes that burned right through her, and knowing she had no escape she swallowed the essence in the mouth. Diamond then discarded Pearl and stood back up, looking down at the naked and defiled Gem before her. He then turned his back away from her and approached the bed of the Sleeping Steven. As he gave a look of disgust at the half Gem before him and extended his hand to the boy.

"Deliquium gemma Deiparae!" Diamond muttered to Steven as the palm of his hand turned opened up, revealing a small toothed hole in his hand, "Te satis est commasculo in consiliis meis. et non potest inducere meus occidere te quia eg!"

Just then he felt a pair of hands tug on his cloak, as he turned around, he looked down to see Pearl over Steven, glaring at her Master with Obsidian Tears pouring down her face, leaving behind black pebbles on the floor around the room. After a few moments, Diamond sighed and bent down to the Gem before him.

"If you do not acquire the Vitae of Rose by the end of the month, you will share the same fate as your mother." Diamond hissed to the long-nosed Gem, "and do not forget that you have already provided me with a replacement should you fail."

Pearl cringed as she watched Diamond vanish. She then looked down at the sleeping Steven and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Followed by a single phrase:

"Ego voluntatem semperque ignosce vos!"

[*]

Crystal Temple, Present Day

The portal opened as the Gems stood out from it. First was Garnet, who first surveyed the area and then gestured for the other Gems to follow after. Second was Amethyst, and finally were Connie and Lion. The three Gems looked around the temple and saw it was a mess, debris was everywhere and the furnature was wreaked. It was as if a wild animal was loose in the room. Connie noticed a large puddle of bile and "pork chop" on the floor and the blood pile on the counter. As Garnet inspected a large covered pot, removed the cover to look inside, her face turned pail as she covered the pot, and turned away. As she and Amethyst looked around, they heard the Screams of Connie, who was trembling before the disembodied remains of Greg, lying on the couch alongside the decapitated Flesh puppet he made.

"Lion, take Connie outside now!" Garnet ordered Lion, Who took the disturbed Connie outside. As Amethyst looked closer to inspect the bodies, the purple Gem jumped back when the body of Greg started to move and whimper, it seemed that the obelisk was still intact.

"What the fuck happened here?" Amethyst said with a tone of disturbance as she watched Garnet break Greg's neck, allowing him to rest.

"I…." Garnet was speechless; she did not know what to do. That was until she saw the trail of blood leading to the door. "We need to find Pearl."

As the two Gems followed the blood trail, they were eventually lead to a large door, as they approached the door, they could hear a voice on the other side, it sounded like Pearl's.

"P..Pearl?" Amethyst said as she knocked on the door, "Its Garnet and Amethyst….can…can we come in?"

Before anyone could respond, Garnet activated her gauntlets and started to punch the door, even though the door was still intact, she kept punching repeatedly, until finally she was able to create such a powerful punch, it broke the door open. Allowing them to open the door and see what was inside the room, and what they saw would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

There was a room. The room was dark with no windows and lights, only light being the open doorway with the silhouettes of the two Gems sprayed onto the floor. The walls where covered in bloody writing that read the words "FAILURE," "SCREW-UP," "HELP ME," and "MISTAKE." In the center of the room was Pearl on her knees, her dress dirty and torn, her hair out of place, and her eyes were blackshot and pouring Obsidian Tears. In her hands was a large round object, about the size of a young boys head. She had the head pressed up to her stomach and was rocking it slowly like a baby. Next to Pearl was the headless torso of a boy, lying in a pool of blood with his gem missing.

"Don't worry Steven!" Pearl said in a calm singsong voice, "Everyone makes mistakes. I will always forgive you".

Garnet and Amethyst were speechless, standing there before the Insane Gem sitting on the floor. The Gem who was once known for laughing at Garnet's jokes, yelling at Amethyst for her annoying pranks and ensuring the welfare of Steven, the half-gem who was not gone because of her. The Two Gems looked at Pearl as she sung to the head in her arms, and then they looked at each other. Without a word, Amethyst turned around to wait outside, only to see Connie standing there, her eyes flowing with tears as she ran to see inside the room, only to have the pudgy Gem stop her. As the two of them looked at each other and then back at Garnet, who was still staring at Pearl, Amethyst escorted Connie out of the Temple, leaving Garnet alone with Pearl.

"Garnet!" Pearl exclaimed as she looked up at her Gem sister, "You know it's not his fault, it was an accident! If every pork chop where perfect, we would not have hotdogs! Right?

"Yes, Pearl..." Garnet gave a small smile as she wiped the tears off her face, "We wouldn't..."

She then turned and closed the door behind her and Pearl. Knowing what she had to do and knowing that even though it would be quick for Pearl, the pain would haunt Garnet for the rest of her life.


	12. The Girl

Original Idea by: Scraps

Collaboration work with: Shortsista

Characters Created by: Rebecca Sugar

Chapter 12: The Girl with the Rose Colored Gem

[*]

**Rose's Hill Topside, 3 days later**

It was a crisp morning; the sound of the waves crashing against the rock side below was quite the sensation, especially for the young Gem who was hearing them. As the Gem took a deep breath, she turned away from the Cliffside and walked over to a large stone marker, as she sat down in front of it, her eyes studied the marker, and the words carved into it that read:

STEVEN UNIVERSE: World's Greatest Hero

Below that was another inscription that read:

GREG UNIVERSE: World's Greatest Dad

On the top of the marker was a large Gem, this Gem glowed a bright Rose light as the sun shined its rays into it. As Connie smiled at the beautiful display, she looked at the final inscription below the two names.

"_If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!_"

Connie made a waving sigh as tears began to pour down her face; it seemed like yesterday that she had come over to his house to go on a nice date with him. Neither she nor Steven knew it would have turned out like this. As she tried to stand up, she found herself kneeling before the marker, unable to find the strength to stand up. She then placed her hand on Steven's name and took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry. I failed you. You trusted me, and I failed you." Connie whispered, "You are as precious to me as you were to the Crystal Gems. I swore that I would be there for you, and I was not. If I…if I was more careful, if I just stayed safe, maybe you would be…be…"

Connie then screamed as she began to punch the ground before her. After what felt like ages, she stopped to lift her fist from the earth and look down at the small indention she left before her. She then looked to her hands, bloody and covered in dust, she sat back and cupped her hands over her face and sobbed. Just then, Connie heard footsteps and metal thumping and turned to the source of the noise. There, moving up the stairs, was Garnet, with a shrouded being hunched in a wheelchair, as she moved the figure to the Cliffside, she locked the wheelchair in place and then walked over to Connie, who stood up at attention. Before Connie could say anything, Garnet grabbed the young Gem in a large hug.

"It's okay Connie," Garnet aid with a soft tone to Connie, "I know you blame yourself for Steven's death, but it is not your fault. None of us knew what was going to happen."

Connie looked up at the tall Gem before her, understanding that, like her, the impact of the pass events was as much painful to her as it was to the new Gem.

"I know, I just have to realize that we can't cling to past regrets and look to the future." Connie then smiled as she looked at the marker "Amethyst would have called me cheesy for saying that right now, wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, she would." Garnet said with a smile as she wiped tears from her eyes, as they spoke, Amethyst was informing the citizens of Beach City about the Universe Family's death. Something she, nor the other Gems did not want to do since they were still recovering from the loss of Cecil Smiley, the eccentric Game owner/wrestling manager who was found under the dockside with a broken neck.

"So what do we do now?" Connie said with a recomposed tone, "What do we do about Diamond? We have to stop him."

Garnet then summoned the Book she acquired at the Tribunal Temple and showed it to Connie. It was obvious that Gem Grandmaster Diamond was planning to acquire the powers of both Master Topaz and Master Rose Quartz. This meant that not only was there the possibility that Topaz was alive, but the possibility that other Gems were alive as well.

"If Master Topaz is alive, then Diamond will try to find him. We will just have to find him first." Garnet said as she closed the book before walking over to Connie, "We also have to remember that you have Rose's Gem, which means that He will be after you as well."

Connie the turned to Garnet as she placed a hand over her stomach, "Then I guess he will be after two Gems then, and if he thinks he can get away with all of this…" Connie clenched her fists as she looked up into the sky above her, summoning her sword and pointing it up as well.

"DO YOU HEAR ME DIAMOND?" Connie shouted, "IF YOU THINK THAT I AM GOING TO ALLOW YOU TO GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU ARE DEAD WRONG! WHEN WE MEET, IT WILL BE *YOUR* HEAD IN *MY* HANDS!"

Connie then felt a hand on her shoulder as she turned to Garnet, a bit startled by the fact that such a timid human had now become a brave Gem warrior. Just then, the two Gems heard a slurred voice from behind them.

"Connie?" said the voice "Is that yu?"

Garnet and Connie turned to the figure in the wheelchair, which was now clearly awake, as they walked over; Garnet clenched her fists and took a deep breath. As the two of them were on both sides of the figure, Connie grabbed the figure's shroud and pulled it away, gasping at the sight before her. There, between the Gems, was Pearl only, she seemed different; A large bandage was wrapped over her head and over where her Gem used to be. There was a blue stain on her forehead. The rest of her body was bandaged as well, Pearl's eyes where different as well, the right eye was normal but was black shot while the left was now a milky blue and unaligned from the other. As the former Gem turned to Connie, she gave a large smile.

"Connie! Is yu!" Pearl slurred to the Gem beside her, "I haven't seen yu in days!"

Pearl tried to hug Connie but she only lifted her arms up a few degrees before setting them down again, Pearl then began to get frustrated, making loud droning noises and as she tried again. Connie then placed her hand on Pearl's back, causing Pearl to turn to Connie and grin once more. Connie then looked to Garnet, who appeared to be ready to break down at any moment, and gave a small nod upward. Garnet then grabbed Pearl's hand and looked into her eyes. Garnet knew that whatever Pearl had done in the past was not entirely her fault, that part of it was the fault of Diamond, who turned her into a tool for his own plans.

Nevertheless, that did not excuse her from her crimes and she knew what had to be done. Pearl had to undergo Tua Gemma Remotionem, a special Gem procedure that was used to have her Gem removed and destroyed. The process would regularly make criminal Gems mortal, harmless, and left behind a disfigurement where their Gem once was. However, for Pearl, whose Gem was on her forehead, the process caused her to have a massive aneurysm, which left her in an impaired state. As Garnet kissed Pearl on the forehead, she stood up and nodded back to Connie before walking away. Pearl tried to look back to see where Garnet was going, unaware that Connie was releasing the breaks on the wheelchair.

"Where's Garnet going?" Pearl asked as drool trickled out of her mouth, "Is she going to et Steven?"

Connie stopped for a moment to process the question; she then gave a small smile as she stood behind the wheelchair, the two of them over the Cliffside with the waves crashing on the rocks below.

"Yes Pearl, she is." Connie said as she wiped a tear from her eye, "She is going to bring Steven and Amethyst too. But you have to close your eyes first."

"Do yu think Steven is mad at me? I never meant for him to be mad at me." Pearl said as she shut her right eye.

Connie looked at her shaking hands as they grasped the wheelchair handles. Connie then took a deep breath and with fresh tears pouring down her face, she replied to Pearl.

"I know you didn't. I know…"

Then she pushed.

[*]

**Rose's Hill, 30 minutes later**

It was calming, the sound of the water crashing into the rocks. There was a feeling of tranquility, a feeling of peace, a feeling of order, As if all problems in the universe were pointless compared to the solemn sound of the waves and the rock.

However, this moment was interrupted but a few minutes ago by a body crashing into the rocks below her. The disturbance was only for a few seconds, and then the peace returned. For the intruder, who was once known as a crystal Gem named Pearl; she lay on the rocks and felt the sharp pain rush through her body, the warmth of blood pour out of her head, and the sting of the saltwater splash against the wounds on her body, having already seeped through the bandages around her. For some strange reason, despite the pain and realization of her apparent death, she found the sound of the water hitting the rocks to be peaceful and calming. It was as if the ocean was lulling her to sleep, telling her that after thousands of years, she could finally sleep.

That was until she felt the water stop moving and the sound of the waves ceased; they were replaced by footsteps, metal ones. As she looked up, she saw two beings standing above her, one of which shot a fan shaped light at her. As the light moved across her mangled body, it stopped and one of the beings looks to the other.

"[IDENTITY ACQUIRED…IDENTITY: VESTIBULUM …CLASSIFICATION: AMMINICULUM…CURRENT STATUS: INCAPACITATED…VITAL STATUS: TEN PERCENT AND DROPPING…ACTION: SENDING LOCATION TO MASTER DIAMOND]"

Within moments another being appeared before the other two, only this one was different, he was wearing a robe and had Grey hair that was shaped like hers and a grey beard. As he bent down to the wounded ex-Gem before him, he brushed his hand against her cheek. Pearl tried to speak but found no strength to, only to make a small cry.

"Be still." Diamond said as he moved Pearl into his lap "Allow me to repair the damage they have brought onto you."

Diamond then removed the bandage around Pearl's head, noting the large _suture_ wound in her forehead. He then summoned a knife and cut the sutures reopening the wound and releasing a large amount of blood. As Pearl struggled for a moment in pain, Diamond THEN ordered his Agates move her limbs back into place, shifting the broken bones into proper positions and causing Pearl to scream in agony while Diamond opened his robe, exposing his bare chest as well as a strange looking orifice on the right pectoral. Diamond then took a deep breath and with that, the orifice extended into a worm like tentacle.

"Let this be a reminder that you exist because I allow it and you will not die because I demand it."

The tentacle hissed as it attached itself to the hole on Pearl's head, Once again causing her to shout in pain while the Agates held her down. As the tentacle pulsed and fed Vitae into Pearl, Diamond could see her bones healing and her cuts fade away. As soon as Pearl's body was fully healed, a large bulge began to travel through the tentacle until it reached the mouth that was attached to Pearl. Just before it reached Pearl, Diamond placed his hand over Pearl's mouth. Just in time to cover her streaking until she drifted into unconsciousness.

As she did, Diamond removed the tentacle, revealing the new Pearl on top of Pearl's head. As the tentacle retracted into Diamond's chest, he put on his robe and gestured his hand upward. One of the Agates lifted Pearl up and carried her into a portal made by the second Abgate. As Diamond turned to the temple in the distance, he soon noticed a hooded girl that appeared next to her. The girl then removed her hood, revealing pail white skin, grey hair, and blue eyes which were black shot.

"Is that the temple you mentioned earlier Father?" The girl asked Diamond with a tone of disappointment, "It's much smaller than I imagined."

"I told you not to call me father." Diamond said with a stern tone, "Call me that again, and I will break your jaw."

"Forgive me, Master." The girl re-correcting herself, "But is that the place where mother killed that boy?"

"Yes it is Zirconia." Diamond said with a tone of annoyance, "But you will address your sister as who she is, just like she does with Onychinos."

"Yes master." zirconia said in a disappointed tone, "Does this mean we are not going to kill them, because I want to kill them Master, at lease let me kill the three eyes."

As she summoned a pair of white Kataras, Diamond quickly turned and struck the white haired Gem in the face, knocking her down to the ground with a bloody nose and a split lip.

"You will not!" Diamond barked at his servant as she wiped the blue blood from her face. "You will kill when I say to kill. Is that clear?"

Zirconia was about to reply, but then she felt obsidian tears fall from her face, burning it as she looked to the Master, who was glaring back at her with eyes of black and molten red. The Gem then looked to the floor and nodded. Diamond then turned his back to her and looked back to the temple, hearing the sound of his daughter entering the portal behind him. Diamond then sighed as he reappeared before the marker on the topside of the hill. As he inspected it, he then turned to the oversight of beach city.

""You may have stopped the virus, but you cannot stop the plaque! Your chance to surrender to the new order has come and gone. I am Order. I am the Master. I. Am. Obsidian."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**


End file.
